About half of teenagers are worried about having children, and many don’t even have basic knowledge about their own reproductive health, according to two studies published in the Human Fertility and Health Education Journal.
A team of researchers from UCL, London, used surveys from 931 students in England aged 16 to 18. Surveys were collected between May 2021 and July 2022. Results show that about 2/3 thirds of students want to have children in the future, and nearly half said they wanted more than one. However, they also said they were worried about their future parenthood, expressing fears about their ability to raise children and how that would change their lives. Some of the anxieties reported were fear, self-doubt about their parenting skills, financial burdens, and inability to follow personal aspirations. In addition, some students were worried about having children due to climate change, while others — identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community — felt that sex education at school lacked inclusivity.
The students who don’t want children mentioned several reasons for their decision, including negative associations with pregnancy, raising a child in an uncertain world, and finding babies a nuisance. “Sadly, a number of female students expressed a lack of interest in future parenthood due to their fears about pregnancy and childbirth,” said Professor Joyce Harper (UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health). “Shortcomings in fertility education in schools also meant that students were left feeling both ill-informed and negative towards their own fertility and ability to have children.”
Until recently, sex education in the UK focused on biological issues, such as puberty, menstruation, sexually transmitted diseases, and contraception. These topics were unchanged until 2020, when a new Relationships Education curriculum became compulsory for all primary schools (5-11 year-olds) in England. In addition, a new curriculum was introduced for secondary schools (11-18-year-olds) and included the need to teach reproductive health.
Despite the new curriculum, there are still gaps in young people’s education and teenagers are still not being taught about key reproductive issues such as endometriosis, infertility and the impact of lifestyle on fertility.
When asked about how to improve their education, students suggested making the curriculum more inclusive and relevant and teaching about sex in a positive manner. “All we’ve done in school is go over and over having safe sex and talked about periods which whilst is important is barely scratching the surface of things people need to know about. If miscarriage and infertility were better taught, then that could reduce the guilt and embarrassment people who struggle with it would feel,” said one female participant.
“It is not surprising that we take so long to diagnose conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) when pupils are not taught about these conditions. It seems we are afraid to talk about a ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ menstrual cycle,” added Professor Harper. “With regards to fertility education, most teenagers told us they want children in the future but at school we concentrate on teaching them how not to get pregnant, not how to have a healthy pregnancy. The menopause is now included in the Department for Education curriculum, and it needs to be taught. This is why the International Reproductive Health Education Collaboration that I co-founded has developed a number of educational resources, including a teacher’s guide which will be available, for free, very soon.”
The authors hope these results will contribute to improving sex and reproductive health education for students in England and possibly worldwide.
Biswakarma R, Maslowski K, Reiss MJ, Harper JC. Parenthood intentions of 16-18-year-olds in England: a survey of school students. Hum Fertil (Camb). 2024 Dec;27(1):2310639. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2024.2310639.