Female and male decision-making regarding whether to continue or abort an unintended pregnancy: a secondary analysis of the FECOND study

Objective: We aimed to explore partner agreement in unintended pregnancy decisions and to describe predictors of female and male perceived agreement with their partner regarding the decision to continue or terminate the pregnancy. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the FECOND study, a population-based probability telephone survey conducted in France in 2010 comprising 8645 respondents aged 15–49 years. Pregnancy data were reported by individuals (not couple-level data). For female- and male-reported unintended pregnancies, we used generalised estimation equation models to estimate the odds of a female-only (disagreement) versus a joint (agreement) decision to continue or terminate an unintended pregnancy. Results: The decision to continue an unintended pregnancy was reported as joint in 82% of female- and 88% of male-reported pregnancies. Pregnancy continuation was more likely to be perceived as female-only versus a joint decision if men perceived initial pregnancy intention disagreement (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 5.9; 95% confidence intervals [CI] 2.0, 16.9), if women indicated finances were very difficult at the time of conception (aOR 3.0; 95% CI 1.7, 5.2) and if women or men reported an unstable relationship at the time of conception (aOR 10.0; 95% CI 6.1, 16.4; aOR 55.3; 95% CI 15.8, 193.0). The decision to terminate an unintended pregnancy was reported as joint in 61% of female- and 74% of male-reported pregnancies. Pregnancy termination was more likely to be perceived as a female-only decision if women reported an unstable relationship at the time of conception (aOR 3.8; 95% CI 2.3, 6.2). Conclusion: Pregnancy intention disagreement and finance/relationship status at the time of conception inform partner agreement about the decision to continue or end an unintended pregnancy.