Motherhood: Types, Meanings and Motivations

In modern times, motherhood, once regarded as the main source of identity for women, has been moved away from its former status; hence, theorists focused on this issue as a dilemma. Likewise, affected by the influence of the developments of the modern world, motherhood in Iranian society underwent some changes, turning it as a subject that needs to be studied. The first step for explaining motherhood is to know about the status of motherhood in the outlook of women. This study aimed to classify women in relation to motherhood by applying content analysis method with a sample including 51 women aged from 15 to 70 years in Tehran. The data collection was carried out based on semi-structured in-depth interview. The findings of the interview were coded in three stages and their existing themes were designed. Based on the semantic factor known as the focal theme, three main types are identified regarding the issue of motherhood:  selector, hesitant, and elusive. Selector type women were divided into two groups based on their motivation: traditionalists and epistemologists; whereas women who were hesitant about motherhood were divided into two groups of materialists and epistemologists. The foresaid types indicated a change in motherhood position, implying that with the dominance of the selection factor and awareness of the institutional pressure to be in the motherhood position has decreased. However, the value of motherhood and the inner tendencies of women lead them to accept this position.