Teens' Deeds Now Up infertility Risks Later
Categories: Teens & tweens, Love & sex, Health & safety
No one likes to think their teenager is having sex. And we all remember how that went when we ourselves were teenagers. The math suggests that teens ARE having sex--if, you know, Bristol Palin, for example, is any indicator. What teens might know about sex they might not know about infertility, however, a new study suggests.
Questionnaires completed by 608 teens at an average age of 17.5 years yielded that they know what the term infertility means, but may not know that sexually transmitted diseases can increase their risk of becoming infertile. Specifically, the teenagers did not know that chlamydia or gonorrhea--both sexually transmitted infections--could make them infertile and many thought fertility issues primarily affected women who were over 40 years of age.
On the plus side, the majority of the teens responded positively to caring about and protecting their fertility. Many were also agreeable to undergoing screening to detect STDs that might affect their fertility. Researchers think this positive outlook might open the door for getting teens to avoid things like caffeine, smoking, drugs and putting on excess weight in order to protect their fertility.
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