Study on Determinants of gender preference and use of family planning methods among married women of the reproductive age group in the Urlabari Municipality of Morang District, Eastern Nepal

Introduction: Son preference is predominant in developing countries, especially South Asian countries and its effect is most visible when the fertility is on transition. Nepal is a country in South Asia where the fertility has declined and son is valued highly. Objectives: To find out the effects of gender preference on the use of family planning and to identify the determinants of gender Preference. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted among the 350 married women of reproductive age group (15–49 years) in Urlabari Municipality of Nepal. Semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Chi-square test was applied to measure the association between socio-demographic characteristics, Fertility Profile and use of contraceptive methods with gender preference, and binary logistic regression was applied to identify the determinants of gender Preference. Results: The husband’s education has been illiterate (79.3%) have seen more gender preference as compared to those below SEE (71.7%) and above SEE (66.9%) but the difference was not significant. The study population belong to the labor (85.7%) was seen insignificantly more gender preference in comparison to other occupational groups. The study populations have desired children as ≤2 have found significantly more gender preference (73.0%) than those having desired children as >2 (57.9%) (P = 0.022). The study population having last child as male (75.1%) was found significantly more gender preference than those as female (63.8%) (P = 0.023). The married women not using natural contraceptives (75.7%) was found significantly more gender preference than those using natural contraceptives (62.5%) (P = 0.008). The women whose desired children ≤2 are 2.4 times more gender preferences as compared to those desired child are <2 (P = 0.007). Those women who are using natural practice for family planning for gender preferences are 2.2 times more than those not using natural practice (P = 0.002). Conclusion: The study concludes that the women desiring less number of children, sex preference compared to non-preference in the first child, and those not practicing natural family were found to be the determinant of gender preference.