Awareness of fertility

A new paper from the States has looked at student attitudes towards fertility, questioning male and female students about their views and understanding. We often think - or at least I do - that we blab on about the age-related decline in female fertility so often that most women are only too aware that their fertility will begin to decline quite sharply once they are over 35. In fact, the research suggests that maybe we should be blabbing on a bit more. The students in the survey thought that the marked decline in female fertility came far later than it actually does - and they assumed that fertility treatment would be more likely to be able to sort out any potential problems than it actually is. This is perhaps the most worrying fact, as there is still an idea that if you leave it too long to try to have a baby IVF will be able to sort it out for you. Just this morning, I read an article in the paper quoting a 38 year old celebrity who said she was in "no rush" to have a baby. We've seen endless attempts to raise awareness of this issue over the last few years, but it seems there may still be some way to go.