Although grow ing research has empha sized the crit i cal impor tance of study ing returns for under stand ing var i ous aspects of migra tion pro cesses, knowl edge regard ing return migrants' fer til ity behav iors remains lim ited. This study addresses this knowledge gap by comparing rates of first births and completed fertility among three groups: non mi grants (at ori gin), migrants, and return migrants. Using exten sive data col lected both in the home regions and at des ti na tion, we ana lyze female migra tion from Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and R & eacute;union Island to met ro pol i tan France (European France). We find intermediate fertility behaviors for return migrants rel a tive to non mi grants and migrants: on aver age, com pleted fer til ity lev els are lower among return migrants than non mi grants but slightly higher among return migrants than migrants. Some of these dif fer ences can be attrib uted to selec tion into migra tion and return, although significant gaps persist among women with similar socio economic characteristics. Our findings highlight three key observations. First, when migrants return before begin ning child bear ing, their tran si tion to moth er hood closely resembles that of nonmigrants with similar characteristics. Second, the lower fertility rates among pro spec tive return migrants indi cate an antic i pa tion of dis rup tion effects. Finally, reduced fer til ity while resid ing in met ro pol i tan France trans lates into lower com pleted fer til ity rates for return migrants.
