Do visions of cuddly babies strike you out of the blue, and you find yourself getting gooey-eyed? We see it in the movies and on television when a character realizes they want to have a child — and you may have even caught yourself dreaming about the pitter-patter of little feet. It's often connected with a ticking biological clock. "It" can be summarized in two words — baby fever — and guys get it, too.
The phenomenon is real, say researchers from Kansas State University. Gary Brase, associate professor of psychology, and his wife, Sandra Brase, a project coordinator with the university's College of Education, have spent nearly 10 years researching baby fever: the physical and emotional desire to have a baby.
"Baby fever is this idea out in popular media that at some point in their lives, people get this sudden change in their desire to have children," Gary Brase said in a press release. "While it is often portrayed in women, we noticed it in men, too."
The Brases became interested in baby fever after the birth of their second child. "I noticed a distinct difference in my desire to have more children," Sandra Brase said. "Although one hears about people having baby fever from friends, family and in the media, I was curious if there was a scientific explanation for the presence or lack of it in both women and men."
While some research has looked at the demographic and sociological aspects of having children, there had been no previous study from a psychological perspective, Sandra Brase said. The new research appears in the American Psychological Associationn's upcoming issue of Emotion.
