Poll reveals lack of fertility awareness
6 September 2012
Straits Times, SPH
Women with trouble conceiving may be slow to seek help due to misconceptions
EIGHT in 10 Singaporean women want to have kids but are at a loss when they cannot get pregnant. Instead of seeing a doctor, they think it is because of "God's will" or "bad luck".
The responses of the 100 Singaporean women were part of a study that surveyed 1,000 women in 10 Asian countries, the findings of which were released yesterday.
Commissioned by biopharmaceutical company Merck Serono, the study was led by National University Hospital's Professor P.C. Wong, a fertility expert.
From late last year to April this year, researchers surveyed married women aged 20 to 45 who had been trying to get pregnant for the past six months but failed.
Overall, only about a quarter sought medical help when they could not conceive. Compared with women in other countries, women in Singapore, South Korea and China were ahead in terms of overall knowledge about the issue.
While the bulk of the Singaporean women said they wanted to be parents, many appeared not to know much about fertility issues, or what to do if they were unable to conceive.
For example, six in 10 thought that a woman in her 40s was just as likely to get pregnant as one in her 30s.
Prof Wong said this was untrue. The likelihood of getting pregnant plunges from 40 per cent to 10 percent when a woman enters her 40s, he said.
Half of those polled thought that women who stopped having periods could still be fertile and bear children. Prof Wong said such misconceptions were surprising given that such health information was readily available online.
He also voiced concern about the group of women who believed their chances of getting pregnant were high, even when they had been trying in vain for half a year.
Prof Wong said: "Many Singaporean couples are under-informed and not seeking help that could improve their chances of conceiving."
This includes in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), where an egg is mixed with sperm in the laboratory.
The embryos are then transplanted into the woman's womb. The latest figures from the Health Ministry show that the number of IVF babies rose from 809 in 2007 to 1,308 in 2010.
But Singapore's fertility rate has been declining and reached a low of 1.15 in 2010, well below the replacement level of 2.1. Infertility is medically defined as the failure to get pregnant after one year of trying.
In general, it is estimated that about 10 per cent of couples face the challenges of infertility. One of them is Madam June Chiang, 39, who wanted to have children immediately after getting married four years ago.
"I was 35 at the time and had assumed that it would be easy for me to become pregnant, as I led a healthy lifestyle," said the banker.
But the couple were still childless even after a year. That was when they approached the National University Hospital for help.
After two cycles of IVF treatment, Madam Chiang finally gave birth to a girl six months ago.
""I underestimated the impact of age on infertility," she said.
"Otherwise, we would have sought help earlier."
