ABSTRACT
Reproductive opportunities are lost in primary sterility, before fecundity is established, and secondary sterility, following childbearing but prior to the usual age of menopause. This chapter explores the evidence for the various determinants of primary and secondary sterility for the women. The author's analysis focuses on events such as marriage, and first birth. First marriages for !Kung women are generally arranged by the parents of the couple. One cannot be confident, that even if the hypothesis is true at the present time, the distribution of first marriage frequencies by age in the past or in the future would have the same starting or ending points. In attempting to allocate individual women to various causes of primary sterility, the author assumes that those have had VD really did have it, and assumes that the VD has caused the primary sterility. As in the case of primary sterility, the author attempts to quantify the incidence and the causes of secondary sterility.
