How important is having kids?
Very important, every married couple should have at least one child, and they should get their first child as fast as possible after marriage. If they don't have children within five years after they have gotten married they will no longer be seen as a married couple, and in certain parts of the country they might even get banished for not doing what they are meant to do, raising the next generation.
How are barren women and sterile men treated?
People sees them as the lowest of the lowest. It is said that if a human are unable to give life to a new child then they are cursed by the Gods for something they have done. Because they must have offended the Gods in some way, they have also offended humanity and won't be treated as humans. Sometimes they are killed because they are seen as useless.
How many children, on average, will a healthy couple have?
In wealthy families it is normal to have up to ten children, but for people with a normal income it's more common with three to five children.
(If lots of children are encouraged) are nannies, wet nurses, or other help usually employed to help care for them?
Richer families almost never takes care of the children themselves, during the first years they are raised by nannies, while when they get a bit older they will mainly be taken care of by their home tutors. The parents usually doesn't take care of the children and mainly just sees them while eating dinner and breakfast. The oldest child(ren) usually spends more time with the parents than the younger siblings because they are supposed to take over whatever the parent is working with.
In middle class families it's not rare to have one nanny, but it's not uncommon for the mother to do the job of the nanny either.
What is the stance on taking a lover? On taking a lover when married? What about multiple wives/husbands?
The golden rule is 'you shall only have one'. The one you marry is the only one you can have children (or sex) with. Anyone that takes another lover than their wife or husband (Doesn't matter if they are married or not) can be sentenced to death or get banished.
What views are there on surrogacy (the practice of going through a pregnancy or inseminating a woman on behalf of someone who cannot)?
It's a very common practice even though it is illegal. If a person cannot get children of their own it means that they are punished by the Gods. They should not get around it by getting a child from someone else. Even though it is illegal, no one has been able to decide who to punish for the act. In some cases it is the surrogate mother that is punished and sometimes it is the couple that wants a child, sometimes it's both. No one has really put up a line for how to punish them either, so sometimes they are killed and other times they are imprisoned and sometimes they are punished in other ways.
How (if at all) does prostitution fit into this culture? Is it acceptable for a prostitute to bear children? To do it for the purpose of having many children?
Prostitution is completely illegal because of the golden rule, 'you shall only have one'. But there are still prostitutes and people willing to buy them. They have to be careful though since if they become pregnant and aren't married, they could face execution. Most people that goes into prostitution already knows of ways to get miscarriages if it comes to that. They make sure that there are places where they can buy poison if they ever happen to get a child. Some prostitutes refuses to do so though, and runs away from the country if they ever were to get pregnant. While others makes sure to either threatens or begs a man she has been laying around with to marry her before the child is born.
How are people who don't want children treated?
People that doesn't want children are often treated as outcasts. If they get married and doesn't get children then they can face violence from the people around them to such a degree that they could die. If they wouldn't get married though, then people would most likely not become violent towards them, but they would certainly not be very friendly either after an unmarried person reached a certain age. It's usually harder for unmarried people to get a job if they aren't too young to get married. And some people are fired because they don't get married or have children. Most people will only accept you if your goal in life is to have as many children as possible.
Why is having children important/unimportant? What roles to children play in a household that would put them in that placement?
Children are very important because they will grow up to be the adults one day. They will be the people. They also represent the innocence and purity that the adults lost long ago. The purity in newborns are said to be on the same levels as Gods.
In middle class homes and poor homes children will start to work in the house as early as it's possible. Usually they start off with easy tasks like dishes and cleaning, then sewing, collecting water etc. Eventually they will come with the parents to their work if they don't have school. Middle class children can go in school, but some parents doesn't send their children to school because they want them to take over their work. If they have many children they can usually only afford to send one or two of them to school, while the others have to work. The rich usually give their oldest children home education while the younger goes to school. The richer families doesn't let their children work at home, instead they prepare them more with education from a younger age than the middle class does so they can get much higher jobs with their knowledge.
If a man or woman has an illness, curse, or deformation that could be passed on to children, is it still acceptable to try and have kids?
If someone have an illness that might get to their kids then they shall still have kids. The Gods won't allow a child to get such a horrible disease if they don't deserve it. If the whole family still gets the illness then they are cursed and should keep getting children and their family should suffer from the curse until the Gods forgives their descendants.
How important is lineage in a child? How are half-bloods, half-breeds, and the illegitimate treated?
Different races can get married and have children without any social troubles. The only thing that is not acceptable is when someone has a child outside of marriage. A child born outside of marriage will most likely be treated as an outcast if people knows about it. Most people would never raise their hands against a child, but once the child becomes a certain age people can become more violent towards them because they were born outside of marriage. Usually these children are taken away from their parents when they are or shortly after they are born and put in special children homes. When they reach the age when they can take care of themselves they are sent off to somewhere where no one knows of their shame and they can start their life from the beginning. Because if they stayed in the town they were born in, no one would ever let them have a job or live a worthy life.
Do parents of illegitimate children recieve any particular scorn or help from their society?
The children are usually taken away from them and the parents themselves can be put in prison for some time. If the parent(s) aren't sent to prison, and against all odds gets to keep the child(ren), society won't help them and they usually have to flee from wherever they live because of the harassment and death threads they might receive.
Do children take their parent's names?
Children usually gets their fathers surname (sometimes the mothers, if her family line is more well known) and a middle name from either the mother (if it's a daughter) or the father (if it's a son). The first name should not be like any living family members name since they don't want to cause confusion. In wealthy families it is not unusual to give them up to five middle names so that they can share their names with other close relatives (grandmothers, mother, cousins etc.) While in middle class they usually only have their parents name as middle name. That way it's easy for other people to know who their parents are. "I'm Akhila Hami Tonera." That would mean that he is son of Hami, and they come from the family line of Tonera, and he was named Akhila at birth. If people have more than one middle name then they only present themselves with their fathers or mothers middle name so that there will be no confusion.
Is a genetic resemblance important or favoured?
It is mostly favored among the higher class people. One of the best compliments you can get on a party is "You look just like your mother/father". But among the middle or low class no on notices if you look like your parents or not.
Are any particular genetic traits appreciated/tried for (strong bones, blue eyes, magical abilities, a particular height)
There is no traits that people appreciate more than others, but there are those they try to avoid. Blue eyed people are said to be able to look into peoples souls. Many people avoid those with blue eyes because of that. Most babies are born with blue eyes which then changes into other colors some months later, which is why many people doesn't want their child to see them at all before their eyes have changed. That's why most upper class people never sees their child before their first birthday, and lets it child look into the soul of the nanny instead.