Susheela Singh, Vice President for Research

Dr. Singh directs and oversees the implementation and management of Guttmacher's research projects and activities. She has been at the Institute since 1985. She earned her doctorate in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1977 and worked until 1984 at the World Fertility Survey. During her career as a social scientist, she has written and co-authored numerous journal articles, monographs and other publications regarding a wide variety of sexual and reproductive health issues affecting the U.S. and other developed and developing countries.

Her current areas of international research include the costs and benefits of providing reproductive health services, the economic costs of unsafe abortion, unplanned pregnancy and abortion, prevention of HIV among youth in Sub Saharan Africa, adolescent sexual and reproductive behavior in Central America, and unmet need for contraception in developing countries. Dr. Singh’s recent published work includes monographs on adolescent risk behavior in Sub Saharan Africa, adolescent sexual health in Central America, the costs and benefits of providing sexual and reproductive health services, men’s sexual and reproductive health needs; and journal articles on adolescent sexual health in Sub-Saharan Africa, the need for sex education in developing countries, the incidence of induced abortion worldwide, as well as country-specific studies on abortion incidence in Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda and Guatemala. Domestically, Dr. Singh currently guides projects which examine abortion, contraceptive use and effectiveness, access to family planning services, teen pregnancy and childbearing and the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent men.

Her recent published work on domestic issues includes articles on contraceptive failure rates, discontinuation of contraceptive use, the sexual behavior of single adult women in the US, factors affecting contraceptive use in the United States, and the contribution of changes in contraception and sexual behavior to trends in adolescent pregnancy in the US. In addition, she participates in activities of many professional organizations in the field, including the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization.

Recent Publications Include:

Henshaw SK, Adewole I, Singh S, Bankole A, Oye-Adeniran B and Hussain R, Severity and cost of unsafe abortion complications treated in Nigerian hospitals, International Family Planning Perspectives, 2008, 34(1):40–50.

Vaughan B, Trussell J, Kost K, Singh S and Jones R, Discontinuation and resumption of contraceptive use: results from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, Contraception, 2008, 78(4): 271-283.

Lindberg LD and Singh S, Sexual behavior of single adult American women, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2008, 40(1):27-33.

Biddlecom AE, Hessburg L, Singh S, Bankole A and Darabi L, Protecting the Next Generation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Learning from Adolescents to Prevent HIV and Unintended Pregnancy, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2007.

Gal-Régniez A, Guiella G, Ouédraogo C, Woog V, Bassonon D, Darabi L and Singh S, Protéger La Prochaine Génération au Burkina Faso: Nouvelle Evidence Sur Les Besoins de Santé Sexuelle et Reproductive des Adolescents, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2007.

Sedgh G, Henshaw SK, Singh S, Aahman E and Shah IH, Induced abortion: rates and trends worldwide, Lancet, 2007, 370(9595):1338–1345.

Sedgh G, Henshaw SK, Singh S, Bankole A and Drescher J, Legal abortion worldwide: Incidence and recent trends, International Family Planning Perspectives, 2007, 33(3):106-116.

Sedgh G, Hussain R, Bankole A and Singh S, Unmet need for contraception in developing countries: Levels and reasons for not using a method, Occasional Report, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2007, No. 37.

Kost K, Singh S, Vaughan B, Trussell J and Bankole A, Estimates of contraceptive failure from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, Contraception, 2008, 77(1): 10-21.

Bankole A, Biddlecom A, Guiella, Singh S and Zulu E, Sexual Behavior, Knowledge and Information Sources of Very Young Adolescents in Four Sub-Saharan African Countries, African Journal of Reproductive Health, 2007, 11(3): 28-43.

Biddlecom A, Munthali A, Singh S and Woog V, Adolescents' views of and preferences for sexual and reproductive health services in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda, African Journal of Reproductive Health, 2007, 11(3): 99-100.

Santelli JS, Lindberg LD, Finer LB, and Singh S, Explaining Recent Declines in Adolescent Pregnancy in the United States: The Contributions of Abstinence and Improved Contraceptive Use, American Journal of Public Health, 2007; 97(1):150-156.

Sathar Z, Singh S and F Fikree FF, Estimating the incidence of abortion in Pakistan, Studies In Family Planning, 2007, 38(1):11-22.

Frost JJ, Singh S and Finer LB, Factors associated with contraceptive use and nonuse, United States, 2004, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2007, 39(2):90-99.

Frost JJ, Singh S and Finer LB, U.S. women's one-year contraceptive use patterns, 2004, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2007, 39(1):48-55.

Lindberg LD, Santelli JS and Singh S, Changes in formal sex education: 1995–2002, Perspectives on Sexual and reproductive Health, 2006, 38(4):182-189.

K Wellings, M Collumbien, E Slaymaker, S Singh, Z Hodges, D Patel, N Bajos, Sexual behaviour in context: a global perspective, The Lancet, 2006, 68(9548): 1706-1728.

Jones RK, Singh S and Finer LB, Repeat abortion in the United States, Occasional Report, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2006, No. 29.

Singh S, Prada E and Kestler E, Induced abortion and unintended pregnancy in Guatemala, International Family Planning Perspectives, 2006, 32(3):136-145.

Singh S, Prada E, Mirembe F and Kiggundu C, The incidence of induced abortion in Uganda, International Family Planning Perspectives, 2005, 31(4):183-191.

Finer LB, Frohwirth LF, Dauphinee LA, Singh S and Moore AM, "Reasons U.S. women have abortions: quantitative and qualitative perspectives," Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2005, 37(3):110-118.

Jones RK, Darroch JE and Singh S, Religious differentials in the sexual and reproductive behaviors of young women in the U.S., Journal of Adolescent Health, 2005, 36(4):279-288.

Vlassoff M et. al., Costs and benefits of providing sexual and reproductive health services: A review, Occasional Report, New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004, No. 11.

Bankole A, Singh S and Woog V, Risk and Protection: Youth and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004.

Singh S, Bankole A and Darroch JE, A, B and C in Uganda: The roles of abstinence, monogamy and condom use in HIV decline, Occasional Report, New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2003, No. 9.

Singh S, Darroch JE, Vlassof M and Nadeau J, Adding it Up: The Benefits of Investing in Sexual and Reproductive Health Care, New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2003.

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), In Their Own Right: Addressing the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Men Worldwide, AGI, New York: 2003.

Singh S, Henshaw SK and Berentsen K, Abortion: A worldwide overview, The Sociocultural and Political Aspects of Abortion: Global Perspectives, in Alaka M. Basu, Ed., Praeger Publishers: Westport, CT, 2003:15-48.

Landry DJ, Darroch JE, Singh S and Higgins J, Factors associated with the content of sex education in U.S. public secondary schools, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2003, 35(6); 261-269.

Ranjit N, Bankole A, Darroch JE and Singh S, Contraceptive failure in the first two years of use: Differences across socioeconomic subgroups, Family Planning Perspectives, 2001, 33(1):19-27.

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), In Their Own Right: Addressing the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of American Men, AGI, New York: 2002.

Darroch JE, Frost JJ and Singh S, Socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent women’s sexual and reproductive behavior: The case of five developed countries, Family Planning Perspectives, 2001, 33(6): 251-258.

Darroch JE, Frost JJ and Singh S, Differences in teenage pregnancy rates among five developed countries: The roles of sexual activity and contraceptive use, Family Planning Perspectives, 2001, 33(6): 244-250 & 281,.

Singh S, Wulf D, Samara R and Cuca YP, Gender differences in the timing of first intercourse: data from 14 countries, International Family Planning Perspectives, 2000, 26(1): 21-28 and 43.

Singh S, Panchaud C, Feivelson D and Darroch JE, Sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents in developed countries, Family Planning Perspectives, 2000, 32(1): 24-32 and 45.

Singh S, Bankole A and Haas T, Reasons why women have induced abortions: Evidence from 27 countries, International Family Planning Perspectives,1998, 24(3):117-127 & 152.