부산대학교 도서관

This paper examines the gender politics surrounding national fertility statistics in Taiwan. We analyze three major fertility registries and surveys: the live birth registry based on birth certificates, the vital statistics based on household registration, and family and fertility surveys. Our aim is to explore how data collection, sampling, instrument design, interpretation and use of these fertility statistics conceptualize gender and reproduction. Our analysis reveals that the live birth data reporting centers on the statistics of newborns, and neglects to produce data centered on birthing women, such as age distribution and the cesarean rate per delivery. The household registry data only requires women to report the number of times they have given birth, leading to the calculation of the average age of first-time mothers without accounting for fathers. The Demographic Fact Book has included some male fertility statistics since 1972, but the government seldom utilizes them for population policy-making. The National Family and Fertility Survey, initiated in 1965, sampled women of reproductive age for more than 40 years and only began to include men in 2012. However, some of the survey questions asked men to evaluate the ideal biological age of women to give birth while neglecting to ask about men's age of first-time fatherhood and their experiences regarding their partners' miscarriage, pregnancy and birth. We conclude that Taiwan's national fertility statistics largely give a narrowed view of women, while making men invisible. We argue that the reproductive imaginary behind the making of statistics remains focused on the biological aspect of reproduction. Governmental data confines reproduction to the sexual division of procreative labor, implying women bear the sole responsibility. We propose that Taiwan should follow some international practices to incorporate both men's and women's reproductive beliefs and experiences covering biological, social, and cultural dimensions to better assess the changing fertility patterns and make more inclusive population policies.