A spokesman for the Dublin archdiocese has welcomed a new study which lends some support to controversial remarks by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, about planned pregnancies.
Father John Dardis, director of the diocesan communications office, said the research, carried out by Glasgow University, "shows the archbishop was not alone in considering the issue. There are clearly valid questions to be asked."
The study, published in the most recent British Journal of Medical Psychology, found that women whose children were unplanned stood a better chance of strengthening relationships with their families, friends and partners than those who had planned pregnancies.
In addition, women who had unplanned pregnancies were said to be more likely to see their working and social lives improve. Based on interviews with 128 women, the survey was conducted by researchers at Glasgow University. Some 81 per cent of respondents who had unplanned pregnancies were found to be in situations where there was some material or emotional gain from motherhood. This compared with only 16 per cent among women who had planned pregnancies.
In a speech to students in Maynooth, Dr Connell suggested that children who were planned tended to be more unhappy and resentful. He expressed concern that a child resulting from planned pregnancy techniques "looks more and more like a technological product".
He said: "A profound alteration in the relationship between parent and child may result when the child is no longer welcomed as a gift but produced as it were to order."
"One of the things we wanted to do," Father Dardis said, "was to try to avoid the polarisation in the debate. Scientific research can only be helpful in this regard and further research would obviously be welcome."
