Fertility and Sterility
Volume 93, Issue 7 , Pages 2162-2168, 1 May 2010

Fertility and aging: do reproductive-aged Canadian women know what they need to know?

This article was presented at the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society 52nd annual meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, November 15–18, 2006.

  • Karla L. Bretherick, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Interdisciplinary Women's Reproductive Health Research Training program, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Karla L. Bretherick, Ph.D., BC Cancer Research Centre, 675 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1L3 Canada (FAX: 604-674-8178).
    • ,
  • Nichole Fairbrother, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Interdisciplinary Women's Reproductive Health Research Training program, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Women's Health Research Institute, BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • ,
  • Luana Avila, B.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Interdisciplinary Women's Reproductive Health Research Training program, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • ,
  • Sara H.A. Harbord, M.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Interdisciplinary Women's Reproductive Health Research Training program, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • ,
  • Wendy P. Robinson, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Received 13 August 2008; received in revised form 19 December 2008; accepted 7 January 2009. published online 17 March 2009.

Objective

Female fertility declines with age; however, women are increasingly delaying childbearing until later in their reproductive years. One of the factors that may contribute to this trend is a general lack of knowledge about the decline in fertility with age.

Design

Self-report survey. Questions pertained to participant demographics and childbearing intentions, and knowledge of the decline in fertility and increased risk of pregnancy loss with age.

Setting

The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Patients

Female undergraduate students (N = 360).

Intervention(s)

None.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Knowledge of fertility over the life span, predictors of age of intended childbearing.

Result(s)

Although most women were aware that fertility declines with age, they significantly overestimated the chance of pregnancy at all ages and were not conscious of the steep rate of fertility decline. Surprisingly, women overestimated the chance of pregnancy loss at all ages, but did not generally identify a woman's age as the strongest risk factor for miscarriage.

Conclusion(s)

Education regarding the rate at which reproductive capacity declines with age is necessary to avoid unintended childlessness among female academics and professionals.

Key Words: Women, knowledge, fertility, aging, education, survey

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 K.L.B. has nothing to declare. N.F. has nothing to declare. L.A. has nothing to declare. S.H.A.H. has nothing to declare. W.P.R. has nothing to declare.

 The first two authors contributed equally to this work.

 Supported by a grant from the Interdisciplinary Women's Reproductive Health Training Program at the Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, awarded to Dr. Karla Bretherick and Dr. Nichole Fairbrother.

 The present address for Dr. Fairbrother is Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

PII: S0015-0282(09)00117-4

doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.01.064

Fertility and Sterility
Volume 93, Issue 7 , Pages 2162-2168, 1 May 2010

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