Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

A new research done by Taylor and Francis Group indicates that most students don’t know much about the role that age plays in male and female fertility. The research was published recently in the journal Human Fertility and reports that only less than half could rightly point out the age when a woman’s fertility declines and people who could correctly identify this age for men’s fertility were even less.

The study was based on a large scale survey of university students in Australia. The findings of the survey indicated that the both men and women considered having children equally important, and were aware that they should start a family before their fertility rates decline. But most of them were also keen on fulfilling their ambitions before taking upon the responsibility of being parents.

The study was led by Dr Eugénie Prior from the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority in Melbourne. The research team worked with 1,215 students, who were asked to fill in an anonymous online questionnaire, which had questions about parenthood and knowledge of fertility.

Only 38% of men and 45% of women were able to correctly identify 35-39 years as the period where female fertility experiences a strong decline, and only 18.3% of men and 16.9% of women were able to correctly point out 45-49 years as the age when male fertility starts to decline.

Less than 10% students said that they did not want children. Those who did want them, wanted two or more. Both men and women considered being in a healthy, stable relationship and being mature enough to raise children important. The results also showed that women were more likely to give more importance to completing their studies, getting ahead in their career, and working at a place where they had access to childcare.

“Our study shows that university students overwhelming want to be parents one day. However, most also have an unrealistic expectation of what they will achieve prior to conception, whether that be in their career or financially. We need to educate young people about the limits of fertility and support them to become parents at a point that is ideal biologically, while balanced against the life goals they want to achieve”, said Dr Prior.

By Purnima

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