Ethical approval was obtained from the Murdoch University Human Research Ethics Commitee (project number 2019/177). Prior to interviews, individual consent was obtained for participation and for the session to be audio-recorded. The information letter provided the following privacy and confidentiality protocols: notes and recordings are to be used only by the research team to ensure correctness of the data and are not available to any other person. Furthermore, the responses are confidential and participants’ names are not used in publications. The data are anonymised and can no longer be directly linked to an individual.

The 12 women participants in this study comprise six rural and six urban Balinese residents, ranging from 30 to 49 years old. Most Balinese rural participants had secondary education or lower, while the urban resident participants included an equal number of tertiary and secondary or lower graduates. Respondents in both groups mainly worked at home or in the informal sector as retailers, craftswomen, homemakers, and casual farmers. See Table 1.

Five of twelve participants from urban and rural Bali cohorts have three children ( Table 1). Against expectation, the rural women in the sample had fewer children than urban women. Four of six (66.7%) Balinese urban participants have more than two children, while only one of six (16.67%) Balinese rural participants have more than two. Correspondingly, the data update in the government Pendataan Keluarga or Family Survey 2015 ¹⁶ , accessed on 12 December 2020, shows that only 23.53% of couples of child-bearing age in the rural area of Banjar Tumbakasa have more than two children. Meanwhile, 27.76% of the urban Biaung couples of child-bearing age have more than two children ¹⁶ , see Table 1.

Based on information from the Tumbekasa village chief, the proportion of households married sentana in that village is 10/32 households. The Biaung chief confirmed that five households married sentana (from 502 households) in his urban banjar. Five of the twelve participants have only daughter(s) in this patrilineal culture ( Table 1), which formally preferences the male line. Among 12 participants, five women have married sentana, most among the rural participant cohort. Sentana marriage confers the status of inheriting male on the daughter and adopts an in-marrying male as the symbolic "wife". However, in practice, the in-marrying husband typically carries out male duties in village social and ritual activities ⁵ .

Purusa marriage refers to the male line through which the responsibility to maintain and carry out ritual ceremonies at ancestral shrines ( sanggah) and customary obligations ( ayahan) to the banjar community and adat village are inherited. It defines the structural power of the male position in the Balinese patrilineal family system, especially concerning inheritance and social/ritual obligations ^{7 20} . Seven of twelve Balinese women from the two study cohorts shared their experiences of their position in the household and society in this patrilineal system. These stories reflect various experiences related to this standard marriage pattern, with implications for family planning, fertility decisions, and women's role in society.

a.1 Urban women's purusa marriage and fertility experiences. Purusa marriage is prominent in Denpasar (an urban area in Bali Province). In the study results, five of six urban women respondents had a purusa marriage. The following quotes from the in-depth interviews delve into their marriage experience and implications for fertility decisions.

In her account, Kota01 describes common Balinese fertility attitudes and values revolving around the intense social pressure under the patrilineal system for having a son. The couple's fertility decisions were strongly influenced, on the one hand, by the pressure to have a male heir and, on the other, by her desire to limit the number of children through family planning. After having a son, the participant asserted her autonomy and, despite her husband's preference for another child, chose to stop having more children and to use contraception.

Kota03's statement also reveals the pervasive importance of the male line in Balinese culture and the intense pressure to produce a male heir from her husband and in-laws, rationalized by ancestral inheritance and the male head of household norms. In this story, the participant expressed resentment of the patrilineal burden and pushed to modify aspects of the customary division of labor in socializing her children.

Like Kota03, Kota04 also views economic difficulty as a strong consideration in reproductive decisions. She argues that a son or daughter has equivalent value. Nonetheless, the community still privileges a boy for family continuity while recognizing sentana marriage as a solution for those with no male heir. Somewhat compensating for the inequality of the normative Balinese marriage pattern is the support from her husband, extended family, and colleagues in recognizing this triple burden, especially in resolving the demands of professional and parenting roles.

Kota05 also expresses the social pressures that led her to have a third child. She was well aware of Indonesia's two-child policy campaign for economic well-being. However, her need to bear a son was absolute. Her fertility preferences were not based on an ideal number of children, but rather the importance of a male child to support household ritual obligations. In her case, the cultural pressures placed on Balinese women produced a double-sided consciousness of the heavy load of adat tradition on the one hand and the contentment that came from the collective satisfaction of those obligations.

Kota06 expresses considerable ambivalence in describing her fertility decisions. She does not use contraceptives even after having three children due to the high value of a son in the Balinese community. Aside from adat obligations, support in old age is a crucial consideration arising from patrilineal arrangements. While sentana marriage for one of their daughters would resolve this dilemma, there is a normative patrilineal model that weighs against an equal valuation of the sentana option. She also considers a new form of marriage pada gelahang that has evolved as a potential means to override her own and her family's burdens. The stories above show that even urban women who have careers outside the home felt pressure to have sons, and at least four out of five who have purusa marriages had an additional child to ensure there is an inheriting son to fulfill their task as Balinese wives. Three participants said they did so explicitly to satisfy patrilineal inheritance norms. It is undeniable in the Balinese context, that normative social expectations of women's roles shape and influence their fertility choices and reproductive agency. In this social construction, "women's destiny" was commonly idealized as a measure of the quality of womanhood. This is the case in Bali as well as across Indonesia ²¹ .

a.2 Rural women, family planning and purusa marriage. The conventional description of a woman's place in Balinese social structure is expressed in the following rural woman's perspective on marriage:

As a casual farmer and homemaker, Desa01 explains that economic limitations outweigh her fertility preference to have more children. She stopped after two pregnancies, even though she had no son. Not only did economic constraints influence her fertility decisions, but analogous economic difficulty by her account was a driving factor of her son-in-law's agreement to a " sentana" marriage with her daughter.

Desa 04 shares her experiences as a rural Balinese woman who left her natal family for the normative purusa marriage. She eventually exercised fertility autonomy in her decision to use contraception after fulfilling her obligation as a wife to bear a male heir for her husband's family. Her story portrays a typical rural Balinese woman as a victim of the patrilineal system in society, normative values she has primarily internalized. Nonetheless, the women's sphere also offers a support network that accompanies the intense social interaction in ritual and community work. Exchanging stories in the banjar makes her realize that she is not alone.

In Balinese society, typically, male descendants have rights to family inheritance. In an alternative marriage system partially parallel to female exogamy, men who marry sentana lose these rights. Men no longer have formal rights or responsibilities after they leave their natal family ²⁰ . Moreover, sentana marriage is a step taken to maintain the family line even though the family only has daughters. This marriage aligns with the national family planning program focusing on small, happy, and prosperous families benefiting from Balinese society's development ^{4, 5} .

The Balinese community's acceptance of this marriage form varies and depends on each region's adat. Tabanan and Gianyar regions accept and have practiced sentana marriage from generation to generation ⁵ . Other areas of Bali province, such as Jembrana, Karangasem, and Klungkung, have not recognized sentana marriage ⁵ . This uxorilocal marriage has weak legal status and misses the three legal components of law: legal structure, legal substance, and legal sanctions ^{5, 7, 24} . S entana marriage is an adat (customary) law practice, not a rule of Hinduism ⁵ . This marriage depends on the local provision of awig-awig or Balinese customary law, which may differ from one adat village to another in Bali ⁷ . Five women were in a sentana marriage relationship among the twelve rural and urban interview participants. However, interestingly only one of these was an urban participant, which might have been expected because sentana marriage is not common in the Denpasar community ⁵ .

In the experience of Kota02 the pressure did not stop after she found a partner willing to marry sentana but continued after her two pregnancies. She feels that she needs to have a son, or one of her daughters will repeat her experience because of the strength of the patrilineal system in the Balinese community. In her sentana marriage, Kota02 recalls that her husband also experienced pressures due to their marriage, which points to other perspectives on the experience of sentana for men who can also be 'victims' of cultural values and socio-economic structures.

Desa02 reflects on her fertility decisions as a rural woman and homemaker in the context of her own sentana marriage and that of one of her sons. She is grateful that she has two sons and that the one who lives with his wife is close enough to visit his mother often. A mitigating factor in both types of marriage is the solid traditional preference for in- banjar marriage, which means that close relationships are usually maintained regardless of the marriage pattern.

The pressure on Balinese women does not stop after finding a sentana candidate and marriage. Male heirs are still critical for adat continuity in the next generation. Desa03 experienced a difficult and rocky journey as a daughter with no brother, the wife of sentana husband, and a mother with no son. Social pressures were multiplied by economic limitations as a rural homemaker and craftswoman. For her, the economic factor ultimately outweighs any advantage in producing a male heir.

In concert with Desa03, Desa05 shares her story on population policy versus patrilineal pressure. She also experiences Balinese women's triple burden, which is productive (working as a teacher), reproductive (bearing male heirs), and customary (ritual adat activities). However, the participant gains support from other women and neighbors to alleviate her triple burden as a rural Balinese woman.

Even though she sought sentana and has the right to her family inheritance, Desa06 still feels inferior to her husband. She feels the need to compensate for his agreement to enter a sentana marriage. Desa06's story reflects a process of learning from the " ngidih sentana" marriage experience, which contributes to her personal openness to a son following this path, out of sympathy for both the needs of other women in this position as well as the personal marriage choices of her children.

The strong patriarchal norm in Indonesia contributes to women's social problems ²⁵ , especially Balinese-Hindu women. The patriarchal system arises as the center of Balinese society's social structure through patrilocal and patrilineal religious and customary traditions ²⁶ . The system pressures married Balinese-Hindu women to have children, especially a son as an heir, and to continue the husband's family's lineage ²⁶ . The emphasis on having a son causes some women to add to the number of children they have with the hope that the next child will be a boy ²⁷ . The interviews with rural and urban women reveal that most participants experience the pressure to have a son in their marriage as a burden.

The Balinese patrilineal inheritance system places the male at the center of the social structure ²⁰ . Male descendants are considered the main actors who carry the inheritance, name, and responsibility for the family, making them highly valued in the community. Balinese women participants reveal their fertility attitudes in the context of structural pressures favoring patrilineal ( purusa) marriage and masculinist values. The variations in women's responses reported above are based on their realistic recognition of social norms and personal life circumstances. Son precedence, if not necessarily preference, is an outcome of those structures and is mainly responsible for the fertility choices and constraints on their perceived options ¹³ .

Regarding fertility preference, several respondents in both marriage types decided to use contraception after they gave their husbands a son. The others did not use contraception because they have no son yet. This finding aligns with other studies in Bangladesh where contraceptive use among women with only daughters is lower than that of women with sons (s) because of the influence of the patrilineal system. Consequently, son(s) preference becomes a reason to have a larger family size when they only have daughters ²⁸ .

Balinese-Hindus believe the ancestral spirit is released from the abyss through the grandson's role ²⁹ . In Balinese, getting pregnant and giving birth to a child is more than a biological matter. It is connected to culture and religion ³⁰ . As written in Rgveda X.85.42: " Ihahiva stam ma vi yaustam, visvam ayur vyasnutam Kridantau Putrair naptrbhih, modamanau sve grhe", meaning: "Yes husband and wife may you stay here and never be separated. Hopefully you both achieve full life happiness. Hopefully you play with your son and your grandsons, and live in this house happily" ³¹ . The ancient literature confirms the strain on the family member to maintain lineage continuity. In a sentana marriage, the burden of having a son continues into subsequent women's generations in the family, from a mother to her daughter. It is illustrated by Desa01, who chooses not to add another child to the family for serious economic reasons when she has no son. Her decision passes an extra obligation for her daughter to find a man willing to accept “ sentana” marriage and give birth to a grandson as an heir to give her family a sense of security.

On the other hand, economic pressure is a structural factor that greatly outweighs son preference in the fertility decisions of these women. This is particularly evident in the rural Balinese women's perspective on sentana marriage. The result is in line with a study result in other rural areas in Bali that Balinese women's fertility aspiration are not simply left to God or fate but determined in concert with their husband (and extended family), considering the costs and benefits of child-bearing and childrearing ¹³ . Unlike women, the theory that men's status after sentana marriage as predana or "woman", ^{5, 20, 24} makes their position inferior is not automatic. As portrayed by some respondents' stories, the husband is still the man of the family, and the wife still feels obliged to obey her husband. In one case, a respondent describes feeling the need to serve her husband courteously to honor his "sacrifice" as " sentana nyeburin" ¹¹ . That said, some accounts also describe supportive husbands and extended families.

The findings reveal the multiple roles of Balinese women as wives, mothers, and members of society. The results also show that marriage patterns and fertility decisions face significant cultural and economic drivers. Sentana marriage, considered a solution to the prescription for male inheritance, can not guarantee Balinese women's equality. This marriage could be deemed a tool to prevent the loss of the family line and inheritance, and ultimately serving to maintain patriliny. Challenges are raised not only by customary law, but also by constraining economic factors. While not generalizable beyond this small sample, this study, using in-depth interviews, indicates the complexity of internal and external forces affecting Balinese women's fertility decisions. Quantitative and qualitative studies are needed to provide broader perspectives and deeper understanding, especially regarding Balinese women's fertility agency in the context of culture, customary law, and development policies.