Reproductive Span and Rate of Reproduction Among Hutterite Women

Abstract

Studies of procreative capacity in the human female are seriously hampered by the fact that it is quite difficult to find sizable populations for which accurate records can be obtained and which do not practice contraception. It is, of course, always feasible to collect histories from individual couples who have made no attempt to control their fertility. However, in an environment where family limitation is the rule, such nonconformists tend to be selected in the direction of low fecundity. It is, therefore, very fortunate that a substantial body of new data has recently become available concerning a contemporary American community, the Hutterites, who do not practice any form of birth control.

This paper was presented at the Twelfth Annual Meeting of the American Society for the Study of Sterility, June 8–10, 1956, Chicago, Illinois. This paper was selected for the Isidor Rubin Award for 1956 by the American Society for the Study of Sterility.