Religious Faith and Family Planning Choices Among Turkish Women

In a recent study set in Central Anatolia, researchers examined how religious belief and attitudes influence married Muslim women’s decisions about pregnancy and birth control. The sample included 331 women who were actively attending family health centres, representing a strong participation rate of over eighty‑seven percent. Participants filled out several questionnaires: a personal profile sheet, the Individual Religion Inventory (IRI), the Religious Attitude Scale (RAS), a survey on contraceptive intentions, and the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy Scale (DAPS). The DAPS measures three aspects of a woman’s motivation to prevent pregnancy: how she feels about it (affective), her thoughts and plans (cognitive), and the outcomes she expects (expected objective). Analyses revealed that women with higher overall religiosity, as measured by the IRI, tended to score lower on both the affective and expected objective sections of DAPS. In other words, stronger religious commitment was linked to a lesser desire to avoid pregnancy emotionally and in terms of expected results. The affective DAPS scores also moved inversely with the “relation to God” part of the RAS, suggesting that a closer spiritual bond may dampen emotional resistance to pregnancy.Conversely, the cognitive portion of DAPS showed a modest positive relationship with certain RAS subscales. Women who scored higher on the cognitive aspects of religious attitude—meaning they thought more deeply about their faith—also reported a slightly stronger intention to plan pregnancies. Yet, overall religiosity did not predict contraceptive intentions directly; the link between faith and choosing birth control methods was weak or absent. Regression models confirmed that higher IRI scores predicted lower affective and expected objective DAPS outcomes. The takeaway is clear: while religious belief may encourage women to consider family size more seriously, it does not automatically translate into a higher use of contraception or a stronger desire to avoid pregnancy. These findings invite further discussion about how faith shapes reproductive choices in contemporary Turkey. They also highlight the complexity of balancing spiritual values with practical family planning strategies.