Professor Dame Leslie Regan's comments at PET's annual conference about educating young people about fertility caused a flurry of media attention!
Professor Regan is professor of Obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College London and a former head of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Her presentation A Women's Health Agenda: Redressing the Balance was summarised in BioNews as part of the session Breaking down barriers: who will lead the way?
'We need TikTok videos don't we, and all of those sorts of things [like]: ‘Remember that your ovaries get worn out or they get tired or they get too old', she said.
'So, I think the education side of it is absolutely crucial. And I don't think it should just be schools, I think it should be all of us in society making sure that we give adolescents the tools that they need to make the best decisions for themselves later in life - and I include the boys in that as well as the girls.'
Several media articles quoted Professor Regan, and featured the other speakers in the first session: Dr Gitau Mburu of the World Health Organisation and HFEA chair Julia Chain:
The Times - 'Plea for girls and boys to learn that fertility won't last'
The Daily Telegraph - 'Teenage girls should be taught that their "ovaries get worn out"'
The Daily Mail - 'Teens should be taught fertility is time-limited with TikTok videos explaining how 'ovaries wear out', claims Government's women's health tsar'
HuffPost's article 'Teach teens "Your ovaries get worn Out", says the UK's official Women's Health Ambassador' also quoted PET's director, Sarah Norcross, about the reasons many women delay parenthood:
'These are not women focused solely on their career and they are not necessarily women who have failed to find the man they want to have children with – it is the absence of a man ready to become a dad that has led to this reproductive choice.'
The session was also the subject of a comment piece in the Observer: 'It's not just ignorance that stops us having babies. It’s also poor relationships'.
