Research

Papers, preprints, data releases, and policy documents related to the indicators in this dataset, gathered daily and summarized by AI.

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Papernber · 8/16/2026
Cycles of Infertility: Intergenerational Transmission and the Role of Assisted Reproduction -- by Viktoria Falk, Andreas Madestam, Emilia Simeonova
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Using Swedish registry data, this study finds significant intergenerational transmission of fertility problems, with daughters and sons of parents who experienced such difficulties being 19.4% and 13.5% more likely, respectively, to face fertility issues themselves, regardless of parental socioeconomic status. Comparisons between biological and adopted children suggest this transmission stems from biological or other inherited factors rather than family awareness, and while assisted reproductive technology success is unrelated to parental background, past fertility difficulties are linked to higher medical costs and increased divorce likelihood.

Abstract
This study examines the persistence of fertility-related health problems across generations within the same family, and the utilization of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Using comprehensive Swedish registry data, we document significant intergenerational transmission of fertility difficulties for both daughters and sons, independent of parental socioeconomic status. Daughters whose parents reported such problems are 2.6 percentage points, or 19.4 percent, more likely to experience fertility problems themselves. Sons whose parents reported fertility difficulties experience a 1.7 percentage point, or 13.5 percent, increase. These associations persist across alternative measures and samples. Comparing biological and adopted children raised in the same households, we find that this phenomenon is unlikely to be driven by family awareness of fertility issues, pointing to biological and other factors that biological children share with their parents but adopted children do not. Medical technology works equally well for those who use it, and we find no significant association between the success of advanced fertility treatments and parental backgrounds. However, past generations’ fertility difficulties are associated both with higher medical expenses and with social costs such as increased likelihood of divorce.
SWEfertility.tfr
Papercrossref-pdr · 5/28/2026
Changing Landscapes of Parenthood: Childbearing Among Same‐Sex and Different‐Sex Couples in the Nordic Countries
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This study uses harmonized register data from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland to examine trends in childbearing among female same-sex couples compared to different-sex couples following legal union, and how this varies by education and income. The findings show a sharp rise in childbearing among female same-sex couples, nearing parity with different-sex couples in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by around 2010, while Finland showed a later and slower increase; higher education, but not income, was linked to greater likelihood of having a child. The authors attribute these shifts to legal changes and increasingly supportive cultural and normative environments that have made same-sex parenthood more attainable in the Nordic region.

Abstract
Abstract The Nordic countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland were among the first countries to acknowledge same‐sex couples’ partnership and parenthood rights in their legislation. We explore trends over time in the share of female same‐sex and different‐sex couples that have children following their legal union and variation by socioeconomic status. Using harmonized register data, we assess couples’ likelihood of having a child over time, with a focus on education and income. We find strong increases in female couples’ likelihood of having a child, resulting in a sharply increasing prevalence, approaching near parity with different‐sex couples in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway around 2010. Finland diverges from the other countries in terms of its later and less steep increase. Higher education is associated with a higher likelihood of having a child, whereas we find a less clear gradient by income level. The results suggest that legal changes, together with more supportive wider cultural and normative societal environments, have made same‐sex parenthood more achievable in the Nordic countries. These changes are concurrent with the observed increase in parenthood. Following this increase, female couples today are nearly as likely as different‐sex couples to have children within a legal union.
DNKSWENORFINfertility.tfr