The Scottish education project ‘Your Future Fertility’, funded by the Scottish government, was the first of its kind in the UK.
The project creates awareness by providing information to a range of organisations including colleges, universities, voluntary organisations, GPs, sexual health clinics and many more. With fertility problems affecting 1 in 6 couples in Scotland we believe we need to empower young people to make informed choices by providing education surrounding all aspects of fertility. This should include factors which may affect their fertility in the future. Providing appropriate fertility information and statistics could help improve their chances of conceiving in the future.
During Fresher weeks within the Universities and Colleges, FN Scotland conducted a survey of students’ knowledge of what could affect their future fertility. 2348 students completed the survey:
Males – 728
Females – 1572
Non Binary – 38
Other – 10
72% of participants indicated that they were not aware of lifestyle factors that may affect their future fertility. The remaining 28% indicated they were aware of the following factors:
- Smoking – (7.5%)
- Eating disorders – (1.5%)
- Alcohol – (7.0%)
- Illegal substances – (2.0%)
- STI’s – (3.0%)
- Age – (3.7%)
- Steroid Use – (2.5%)
- PCOS – (0.3%)
- Endometriosis – (0.5%)
Overall 2227 (95%) of participants indicated they would give more consideration to present and ongoing lifestyle choices they make which could affect their future fertility.
Throughout the year we attended clinic patient evenings/days, as well as many events with other voluntary organisations, family planning clinics, the gathering, health weeks, science café and sexual health events.
We deliver presentations and interactive workshops to other voluntary organisations and to employers. Please get in touch if you think this would be beneficial for your organisation.
We are grateful to the Scottish Government for their continued support