Most of the women in the study have no formal education, but many farm their own rice fields and conduct their own economies with little male involvement. The commerce provides activity and some money, but the most accepted way in which women secure their status is by having children. The women tend to have about six kids during their lifetimes, spacing the births about every two years. The length of the intervals between births is important, said Hill, because a long gap tends to promote gossip about the possibility for divorce. He added that women are frequently divorced if they can't have children and often become second or third wives to other men.
Infertility can lead to depression.
Although rates were very low among the women, the majority of those who were depressed attributed the dysphoria to inability to bear children. Women have been known to continue having children even after they have been warned by medical professionals to stop because they do not want to be seen as bad wives, said Hill. The women are concerned about their own health and welfare while the men look at them with very different eyes. Women who cannot conceive have a few options. They can become foster mothers to relatives' children, a common practice.