Wall Street Journal Examines Reasons Why More Young Women Are Seeking Fertility Treatments

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 17 Jul 2006 - 15:00 PDT

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The Wall Street Journal on Thursday examined the social trends that are leading a growing number of young women in the U.S. to seek fertility treatments. According to the Journal, the "new face" of people seeking fertility treatments is women who are "young, college-educated, impatient and acutely aware that their optimum time to conceive is while they're still in their 20s." According to CDC's National Survey of Family Growth, the percentage of female college graduates ages 22 to 29 who received fertility treatments doubled to 23% from 1995 to 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Some physicians say that many young women are seeking treatments after trying to conceive for only a few months, even though the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines infertility as the inability to conceive after 12 months of trying, the Journal reports. This change is reflective of several societal trends, including the "striving nature of the young generation who ... seem accustomed to setting firm goals and accomplishing them rather easily," the Journal reports. The development of an increasing number of Web sites that discuss the advantages of obtaining certain nonprescription fertility drugs or chat about infertility issues in message boards for women under age 25 is raising awareness about fertility treatment. In addition, more young women are being exposed to an "information blitz" in the media about the risks of delaying pregnancy, though there is "little recent hard data on the trend," according to the Journal. The increase in the number of young women seeking fertility treatments also is being fueled by an "exploding fertility industry," which includes about 450 fertility clinics in the U.S., 60% more than there were 10 years ago, the Journal reports (Bernstein, Wall Street Journal, 7/13).

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