Young people ‘missing out’ on parenthood due to a lack of knowledge about their fertility
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A survey of 1,000 young people from across the UK reveals worrying gaps in their knowledge of fertility and reproductive health, which experts believe may leave them ill-equipped to choose when to have children, prevent unplanned pregnancy or take steps to safeguard their fertility.
Around 80% of both sexes believe women’s fertility only starts to decline after the age of 35, and a quarter of boys think women’s fertility starts to decline after the age of 40, compared with 16% of girls. Two-thirds of those surveyed think men’s fertility only starts declining after the age of 40, with a third believing it doesn’t begin declining until after the age of 50. While the change is less dramatic for men, fertility rates for both sexes actually decline gradually from the late 20s, and can be affected by genetic and environmental factors such as smoking, obesity and nutrition.
Of the 16–24-year-olds surveyed, 94% of those who did not already have them said they would like to have children in ...
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