husbands ‘too soon’ after the birth of a baby were teased as feeling insecure in their marriages—i. e. they were afraid that their husbands would take another wife during their period of abstinence. Older females were the ones mainly responsible for ensuring that this sort of ‘family planning’ was practised. They would offer advice about herbs and sexual practices which could ensure birth spacing. Traditionally husbands had a limited role, if any, in reproductive decision making.
Fortes (1948) observes that there is a deeply-ingrained idea that ‘normal’ men and women should continue to bear children throughout their reproductive years. Hence, when couples remarry after divorce or the death of a spouse, subsequent marriages are likely to produce offspring (Anarfi and Fayorsey 1995). Childless individuals, on the other hand, are scorned and despised. Among the Akan an impotent (and, hence, a childless man) is given the name kte krawa, or inadequate penis. Among the Akan an infertile woman is referred to as boni, a term used to describe brackish water in which no fish can thrive. Sarpong (1977) also indicates that because the survival of the matrilineage depends on its female members, childlessness in a woman is viewed as the ultimate betrayal. The importance of children makes childlessness an important reason for divorce, although husbands are more likely to seek an additional wife or have children outside the marriage than to choose this option. Since Ghanaian customary law recognises polygyny, although marriages contracted under the ordinance must be monogamous, since almost all marriages are preceded by customary procedures, they are potentially polygynous.[94] This has implications for the security of the wife, especially if she ‘delays’ childbearing. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many marriages become polygynous as a result of the ‘infertility’ of the wife, or, among some patrilineages, her ‘inability’ to bear sons.