Study of lived experience of motherhood and marriage of women heads of households in Tehran

The family plays an important role in the mental and social health of its members and then in the social health of the community. The absence of either parent in the family environment upsets its balance and weakens its functions. Female-headed households, in addition to maternal duties and responsibilities, find new roles and responsibilities in the family. Worsening of these conditions is compounded when the position of the female inferior is combined with the inferior position of the class and these two major gaps condense. The aim of this study was to investigate the issues and concerns of heads of households and how they face the challenges ahead with a qualitative approach and phenomenological method. For this purpose, semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 heads of households living in Tehran, and purposive sampling method was used to select them. After analyzing the findings, 11 themes were obtained. These themes include the life process of mothers-to-be, including pre-care conditions and the challenges of cohabitation (child as a means of cohesion and survival, efforts to maintain and rebuild life, negative family attitudes toward divorce), and care issues (poverty). And includes self-esteem, antisemitism, social isolation, double suffering, child concern, reconstructed identity, mental and physical trauma, feelings of insecurity and fear. Finally, according to the identification of 5 types of female-headed households (injured and rejected women, women motivated to improve and change the situation, women with relative family support, female nursing spouses and children in the family, children supporting women and caring mothers) We obtained the research data. Double suffering, social exclusion (forced or voluntary), and identity reconstruction are central and common categories of female-headed households in this study.