They also serve: Chamorro male fertility in the pre-world war ii period

Abstract

Male fertility, a generally overlooked aspect in studies of human reproductive patterns, is examined from the reproductive life histories of Chamorro males with essential completed fertility by 1941. Males in this “natural fertility” indigenous population of the Pacific island of Guam exhibit low levels of couple infertility which are counteracted by high levels of adult male mortality, while new unions formed after the death of female partners tend to reduce completed fertility by only about one child. Delayed age at the time of union formation is largely compensated by reduction in birthspacing intervals among offspring of older fathers. Early terminators, formerly fertile couples of reproductive age who fail for unspecified biological or behavioral reasons to continue reproducing, affect an equal or even larger impact than adult male mortality on failure to attain theoretical male fertility maxima in this population. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:23–35, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.