Should Sex Education Include Lessons on Infertility?
Most of the time education in middle school, if you are lucky enough to have sex education, focuses on NOT getting pregnant. 
Rarely does it broach the subject of infertility. Unless, of course, a certain woman’s infertility or secondary infertility quite possibly changes the course of history.
An article in yesterday’s Guardian thinks that should change.
Back in January, I wrote about my experiences with sex ed, the Catholic school edition:
Worse than any venereal disease, more terrible than any other trouble you could get yourself in, if you were sexually active (and by active, I mean even thought about doing it with your steady boyfriend) Getting Pregnant was this thing that you held at bay; this terror for which you constantly had to be on guard. My Catholic school upbringing made it very clear that there didn’t even need to be penetration for that sneaky little sperm to find its way into your virgin womb and F*ck you over big time. One missed pill, one slipped condom, one wayward thought and BOOM!
The Guardian’s Sarah Bosely argues that with one in seven couples now struggling with fertility issues, it only makes sense to include this scenario when talking about reproductive health:
[Lisa] Jardine, professor of renaissance studies at Queen Mary, London University, says infertility is too little discussed. “You’ve got to start it at school,” she said. “If one in seven of us in the modern world is going to have problems with infertility then instead of all the teaching at school being about how to stop getting pregnant someone had better start teaching about how you do get pregnant, because there are going to be a lot of extremely disappointed people out there.”
The Guardian discusses obesity as one factor of infertility that can be preventable.
Studies have shown that female obesity dramatically lowers the chance of conceiving and raises the risk of serious complications during pregnancy.
Reducing obesity and maintaining a healthy body weight is an entirely appropriate subject for health class. But what about the other? Should teens and pre-teens be taught that sometimes getting pregnant isn’t as easy as falling off a bike? Is this information helpful or harmful? Speaking candidly, I know that the knowledge of my own infertility at a young and sexually active age perhaps, maybe, might have, led me to take more risks than I should have.
I am very interested in hearing your take on this.
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POSTED IN: infertility treatments, living with infertility, pregnancy
13 opinions for Should Sex Education Include Lessons on Infertility?
Amber
May 29, 2008 at 11:47 am
Yeah, I remember those sex-ed classes…they taught it that way in public school, too!
I think they SHOULD teach about infertility…how to approach that subject though…that’s a pretty tough one…
I guess when they’re talking to the boys about men’s sexuality, they could broach the subject. And visa versa when the teacher is talking to the girls. Just stuff in general…very sterile, like they teach it now.
Gabrielle
May 29, 2008 at 12:36 pm
hey Amber, You said “sterile.” :-)
Seriously, though, I agree, it’s not so much the “if” but the “how” that’s the tricky bit. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your comments.
Amber
May 29, 2008 at 1:03 pm
yeah, sometimes I can be funny when I’m not trying to be. :D
Amy
May 29, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I totally agree on including the topic of infertility! I thought as soon as bc pills were removed, whammo, I’d be pregnant! I am a 6th grade homeroom teacher and I had the chance to answer questions from 5th and 6th grade girls about puberty and sex. I had one little girl ask how long it took to get pregnant once you were “grown up”, and I loved answering her question, because I got to explain how much it could vary. The girls were quite surprised, to say the least.
seussgirl
May 29, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I wish someone had warned me of the prevalence of infertility. I may have rethought those bcp and not “waited” 2 years, that turned into almost 6!
Sharon LaMothe
May 30, 2008 at 2:06 am
Hi Gabby! This is a timely topic as next week my 6th grader, a 12 year old girl, will be having a week of sex ed! It will include HIV, AIDS and Safe Sex! My baby! 12 years OLD for crying out loud…but will they learn about infertility? Nooooooo….although SHE already knows what embryos are and what a 3 day transfer means. She also tells people that her mom ‘gave away’ two sets of twins….just to see the reaction before she explains what gestational surrogacy is!
I have been invited, several times, to many high schools to talk about surrogacy, egg donation and ethics of ART. Just ‘my’ personal take on it but when you tell a class of 40 or 50 that 1 in 6 are going to have infertility issues they look around the room….and on a couple of occasions chuckled when there was a very pregnant teen stating that she wishes she had that problem NOW! I do believe that these young women’s magazines would talk more on the subject of the birds and the bees and infertility….it’s a must know! JMHO!
Sharon
Pamela Jeanne
May 30, 2008 at 9:43 am
YES! I was terrorized into thinking that looking at a boy just the wrong way would get me knocked up. It never occurred to me that I might not ever arrive in that state. It’s time for some basic biology. Some people have medical conditions that will prevent or delay conception. Let’s be straight about the facts so that a new generation of young men and women can be aware of their basic ability to conceive (or not)…
luna
May 30, 2008 at 11:37 am
I agree. I wish it were as easy as: your fertile years will end at 35, or something like that. but we know it’s far more complicated. the challenge (especially for catholic schools teaching abstinence) is that to find out you’re infertile you usually have to be TRYING to get pregnant. but education is so important in order to have options, and the earlier the better I think.
Heidi
May 30, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Honestly, the only thing I remember about sex ed class is that I got one question wrong on the “test”. It asked if you could get pregnant without having sex and I answered yes. I had just seen the movie Look Who’s Talking and they had talked about AI.
I am still ticked that they marked that wrong.
Michelle
May 30, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Sex ed in Catholic school–wasn’t it fun!??! It does seem that the subject of infertility should come up at some point–especially with obesity being such a problem and a factor. It is definitely how it is approached that is key–otherwise “everyone” will just assume they are infertile and start copulating in the halls of the school….ha! Here from NCLM and will definitely be back!
Shawna
May 30, 2008 at 11:48 pm
I think that they should cover it in psych class, not sex ed. That is just my personal opinion, but I prefer that the school teach abstinence and let me teach the rest. However, with IF being so emotionally draining it would be a perfectly appropriate topic to cover in psychology. Teens don’t need to understand the specifics of ART as much as the impact of IF.
Gabrielle
May 31, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Shawna, very interesting perspective! I may be leaning towards your suggestion. And your comment just made me think of another thing - Christian Marriage was a mandatory class in my catholic high school - I think that would be an ideal place to handle the topic as well. Obviously it wouldn’t get into ART or IVF or any of those other “sinful” ways us pagans try to procreate, but it could certainly address the financial and emotional strain that infertility can bring to a partnership.
jac
Jun 2, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I agree! I feel like it was a unforsaken topic… bastards…
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