Perceived HIV Status and Fertility Intentions: Evidence from Rural Mozambique

Luciana Luz, Arizona State University

Extensive evidence from sub-Saharan Africa shows that HIV/AIDS reduces fertility, both because of biological proximate determinants and because HIV infection may reduce intentions for childbearing. As treatments to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and highly active antiretroviral therapies to prolong the lives of HIV+ individuals become more widely available in poor countries, the associations between perceived serostatus and fertility intentions may change. This paper uses data from a 2009 survey of rural women in southern Mozambique and from an accompanying survey of all maternal and child health clinics in the study area to examine the association between perceived serostatus and fertility intentions taking into account the availability of HIV services. The extended abstract provides background information; describes the setting, data, and methods; and presents descriptive statistics for both individuals and clinics and preliminary multivariate analyses of individual data. The full paper will incorporate data from clinics into multivariate analyses.