9.1: Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Explain how pronatalism shapes social attitudes toward childlessness and childfree lives
• Describe the historical expansion and restriction of women’s reproductive rights in the United States
• Explain how the concept of women’s "biological clocks" operates as both a biological reality and a socially constructed, gendered narrative
• Evaluate how social and economic factors influence access to IVF
• Define surrogacy and distinguish between traditional and gestational surrogacy
• Compare and contrast the different types of adoption
• Explain how race, social class, and education shape fertility patterns
• Describe racial differences in maternal health outcomes in the United States