What women want? A scoping survey on women’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards ovarian reserve testing and egg freezing.
A recent publication by MFC research staff looks for the first time at Irish women’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards ovarian reserve testing and egg freezing in order to preserve their fertility.
The study, led by Dr. Yvonne O’ Brien (Clinical Research Fellow at MFC), surveyed 663 women aged 18–44 years through the use of social media. Dr. O’Brien found that a majority (60%) of women surveyed had knowledge of ovarian reserve testing, and 64.8% would be interested in having testing performed. Younger women (<30 years of age) and single women were more likely to be interested in checking their ovarian reserve. In addition, the vast majority (89.7%) of women surveyed were aware of oocyte cryopreservation, and 72.2% agreed that they would consider freezing their eggs to preserve fertility. Interestingly, a majority (62.1%) of study participants believed that it is a woman’s right to postpone pregnancy for social reasons and to freeze her eggs, with no significant difference in options noted between younger and older women.
Overall, this study concludes that Irish women are highly knowledgeable about ovarian reserve testing and social egg freezing, likely reflecting increasing awareness of these issues among the Irish public. The study also shows that women are very open to the use of these modern technologies in an attempt to avoid unintended childlessness.
To read more about this research study, please follow the link below:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28858684
Please click on the following link for information on other MFC research studies.
