Introduction

Individuals in their late twenties are expected to establish their own families and have children. This is at least the case in present-day Norway.  However, people with disabilities and health difficulties may have problems in this domain of adult life. This is often the case with vulnerable people, e.g., former students with special educational needs who often encounter difficulties in their transition to adulthood.

This paper analyses which circumstances contribute to childbirth among former SEN-students that have been followed prospectively from their first years in upper secondary school and into their late twenties. Birth trajectories from the age of 17 to the age of 29 will be presented for individuals with different functional levels. The analyses will demonstrate which variables influence whether they have children or not. The plan is also to examine whether the independent variables have similar or different impact for men and women.

Theoretical considerations                                                                   

This longitudinal study draws inspiration from life span psychology and life course sociology. The first of these includes the proximal context (e.g., family and social relationships), whereas the second approach includes more distal features (e.g., structural and cultural context). The combination of proximal and distal contexts shape the timing and form of the transitions through which the life course is constructed (cf. Bynner, 2008).

The life course approach provides a framework for research that helps to identify and formulate research topics and guides the selection of methodological design. This has definitively been the case in the present research project that started in the mid 1990´s (cf. Kvalsund and Myklebust, 1996). An individual’s life course is affected by past events, is influenced by present opportunities or restrictions, and can often be comprehended on the basis of future prospects. The life course is frequently perceived as the sum of those pathways or trajectories (e.g., in education, work, and family life) that individuals follow through historical, geographical, or structural contexts. An example of such a context is the present structure of special education in upper secondary schools in Norway.

Childbirth can be interpreted using life course perspectives, for example, the version expounded on by Elder and Johnson (2003). In the application of this perspective, it is crucial to establish the time and place of the events that are to be analysed. In this study, this relates to how young people with special needs who began upper secondary school in the mid-1990s have children or not in the first decade of the 21st century within the social and economic context of Norwegian society. Another important element is how individuals are embedded in social relationships. The school context is important in this respect, for example, the extent of inclusion in regular classes, or the employment of teaching assistants. A third dimension of this perspective is timing – that is, when notable transitions, for example childbirths, take place in the life course. Sometimes such transitions are off-time (too early or too late), or these transitions do not take place at all (e.g., never having children). Human agency – the ability to plan and to fulfil ambitions – also has a place in this perspective. This ability is characterised by inter inter-individual variation. Reduced agency is common among individuals with serious disabilities, a fact that may decrease their chances of establishing romantic relationships and having children.

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