Sex and pregnacy - Orphans desire children in Malawi

I read an article about orphan desires to have children to provide a sense of family. The authors advocate an uncommon reason for orphan pregnancy. Rather than a need for sex, they want "to achieve a sense of normality, acceptance and love". The study was done in rural Malawi. In the midst of the HIV epidemic, millions of children are orphaned and many suggest the morality causes more sexual encounters and risk taking. In spite of the high mortality rate of young mothers and the children, the authors concluded that women become pregnant to have a family. The orphans believe having a child and the potential for a family will put them within the social norm for a family and not separated from normal society. They perceive more acceptance because they have children and can engage with more people. They now have a child to care for and fulfill the nurturing need to love their own flesh and blood. The men also have this desire and want to have these same needs fulfilled.
     The article is interesting because research has looked into orphan hood as causing abnormal behavior to . The short term need for sex has driven many orphans to engage in heightened sexual activity. However, some may actually desire the opportunity to have a child and become part of the societal expectations to belong to a family. The view that orphans engage in sex to satisfy unmet needs was considered primarily as fall out from the trauma of orphan hood. This study offers a different look that perhaps some orphans, both female and male, want children to meet their own needs and meet cultural norms.

Research article: Rachel Kidman and Philip Anglewicz on "Fertility among orphans in rural Malawi: Challenging common assumptions about risk and mechanisms."