Going it Alone: Unplanned Single Motherhood in Canada
by Janet Ajzenstat, Elizabeth Cassidy, Elise Carter and Gerald Bierling.
In 1994 the deVeber Institute (then the Human Life Research Institute) undertook a research study that looked at the decision making processes in pregnancy. What makes women faced with an unplanned pregnancy choose not to abort but to give birth as a single mother? The team assigned to look at this important topic was led by Dr. Janet Ajzenstat, Professor of Political Science at McMaster University. Under her direction Elizabeth Ring-Cassidy and Elise Carter undertook the design and administration of the protocols that were used to gather the data for the project and Dr. Gerald Bierling provided the technical analysis.
The main focus of the study was to hear the narratives of women who had been faced with an unplanned pregnancy while single and to determine the factors that impacted their choice to continue that pregnancy rather than to abort. In order to reach as many women as possible, within the capacities of the Institute, a two pronged approach was utilized; newspaper ads in three provinces ( Nova Scotia, Ontario & Manitoba), and surveys distributed to agencies (public & private) which provided counselling or program support for pregnant women. In total 81 mothers chose to respond while 66 agencies completed the lengthy survey. Of the agencies responding, 50% were public and 50%were private. This was the first research initiative in Canada that included such a comprehensive group of agencies.
The results of the study were published by the Institute in the monograph “Going It Alone: Unplanned Single Motherhood in Canada”. Arising from the data were two peer reviewed article ‘I Will Still Learn to Fly’ and ‘Agency Perceptions of the Decision to Parent’ which appeared in Life & Learning ( 1994, 1993) a journal of University Faculty for Life.
From both the statistical analysis of responses of agencies and from the women’s own words ‘Going It Alone’ underscored the fact that women who chose to continue a pregnancy represented the multicultural nature of Canadian society and were overwhelmingly content with their decision.
Although this work was published 26 years ago the findings are as meaningful today as they were in the mid 1990’s. For those working with pregnant women this is an invaluable resource. Please take time to read this seminal work on the decision to parent in the Canadian context.
– Co-author, Elizabeth Ring-Cassidy