How to talk to young adults about fertility

Research Question What are the attitudes and knowledge of Danish young adults towards learning about their reproductive biology. Design The study was conducted at different educational institutions with 11 focus-group discussions that included a total of 47 participants (aged 18-29 years). Qualitative content analysis was used. Their fertility knowledge score was measured using The Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale. Results The participants had an overall fertility knowledge score of 54%. Focus-group data showed they thought it was important to learn about fertility and how to protect their fertility potential regardless of whether they wanted children or not. Providing knowledge is like planting a seed in the young adults. They wanted to hear about fertility in multifaceted ways and formats, and believed it should be delivered by professionals, but developed in partnership with young people. The double-edged sword of knowledge and the consequence of knowledge made them hesitant or less open to learning. Conclusions Recommendations from this study are tailoring fertility information to young people, with due cognisance of their developmental stage, ideally from an earlier age