A recent study of Melbourne University students has revealed that less than half of women and 38 per cent of men know when fertility starts to decline.
Of the 1215 students surveyed, 45 per cent knew female fertility declines between age 35-39 and less than one-in-five participants knew that male fertility declines between 45 to 49 years, ABC reports.
However, the report, published in Human Fertility, found that having children was equally important to both men and women and of those who wanted children, three-quarters wanted two or more.
There is “a big social disconnect between young people’s views and goals, and biological reality,” co-author Raelia Lew said of the findings, per SBS.
“University students overwhelmingly want to be parents one day. However, most also have unrealistic expectations of what they want to achieve before having children, whether that be in their career or financially,” Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority’s (VARTA) Eugenie Prior said.
“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.”
Those surveyed placed being in a stable relationship, sharing responsibility with their partner and feeling sufficiently mature as the most important conditions prior to having children with women placing more importance on completing their studies, advancing in their career and having work that could be combined with parenthood.
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