Does female circumcision affect infertility and fertility? A study of the Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, and Tanzania

This study explores the association between female circumcision and inferti lity and fertility, using information from the Demographic and Health Surve ys (DHS). In Cote d'Ivoire and Tanzania, circumcised women had lower childl essness, lower infertility by age, and higher total fertility rates than wo men who were not circumcised the reverse pattern prevailed in the Central A frican Republic. In all three countries, however circumcised women grouped by age at circumcision did not have significantly different odds of inferti lity nor of having a child than did uncircumcised women, when the effects o f covariates were controlled Thus we find evidence suggesting that the prac tice of female circumcision does not have a statistically discernible effec t on women's ability to reproduce.