Fertility Awareness and Subclinical Infertility Among Women Trying to Get Pregnant at Home 

Abstract

Background: Recent studies on fertility awareness in the reproductive population have reported the lack of accurate knowledge about fertility and assisted reproductive technologies. However, these researches were conducted among university students or fertility patients. Therefore, there was little information among women trying to get pregnant at home on the following aspects: (i) the presence of adequate fertility knowledge, (ii) the prevalence of subclinical infertility, and (iii) reasons for not visiting the clinic to identify the possibility of infertility. The aim of this study was to explore fertility awareness and subclinical infertility among women trying to get pregnant at home.Methods: A total of 2,084 Japanese women responded to this online survey. We selected 1,541 women according to the study criteria. By the results of 61 questions, we evaluated knowledge about fertility, prevalence of subclinical infertility, and reasons for visiting the clinic.Results: Despite the desire of the participants to get pregnant, they had an apparent tendency to overestimate the age limit of childbearing. A total of 338 (21.9%) women thought that those aged over 45 years could have children. Approximately 40% of the women had a possibility of subclinical infertility, despite being unaware of the fact. In addition, about 70% of the women considered themselves to suffer from infertility problems. Women who were informed about the possibility of infertility hesitated to visit the clinic for the following reasons: unfamiliarity with a gynecologist or clinic and apprehensions about the gynecologic examination.Conclusions: Several women require treatment for infertility. Nonetheless, they hesitate to visit the clinic. Sexual health education, together with proper accessibility to gynecology clinics are necessary to avoid involuntary childlessness.