The Relationship between Female Genital Cutting and Fertility: A Case Study in Northern Ghana

Elizabeth F. Jackson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Philip B. Adongo, Navrongo Health Research Centre
Ayaga A. Bawah, Navrongo Health Research Centre
Ellie Feinglass, Population Council

There is a growing body of literature on the impact of the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) on fertility. To date, no study has found an association between reproductive capability and FGC, although women who have been cut have been found to be more likely to experience obstetric complications. The purposes of this analysis are to measure the fertility effects of genital cutting and to increase understanding of the differential fertility patterns of cut and uncut women in a rural traditional setting where excision, an FGC form of intermediate severity, is prevalent. Crude age-specific fertility rates demonstrate that circumcised women have higher fertility than women who have not been circumcised. However, once characteristics including polygamy, education, parity, and religion are controlled for, fertility levels among cut and uncut women are not significantly different. Comparisons of background characteristics and fertility patterns and behaviors among circumcised and uncircumcised women are discussed.