I've recently started teaching sex ed where a lot of the emphasis is on preventing unwanted pregnancies and safe sex.
The thing is I get a sense that we're not telling young women the truth about fertility and how that relates to being more discerning about choosing a partner and when. Maybe we should be more honest with them about the heartbreak of infertility and ttc, especially if like me you've left it too late.
I'm 42 ttc no.1. I wrongly believed I had loads of time to settle down and have kids because my mum had me at 37. I didn't think the scare stories about declining fertility would apply to me. I figured with modern medicine etc my chances would be better but so far mother nature has other ideas.
If I had fully grasped that my fertility was finite would I have wasted time 'having fun' and dating undesirables who had no intention of committing?
I feel as though it would be seen as being politically incorrect to say to teenage girls "look if you think you want children later in life you need to start saving now and don't waste your time on losers."
I'm not saying that women should go back to the dark ages but sexual liberation has come at a high price and it's women not men who are paying.
I'm not convinced there should be yet another school initiative on this but something that comes from the community. Women getting together to pass on their wisdom to the younger generation.
Any thoughts?
The thing is I get a sense that we're not telling young women the truth about fertility and how that relates to being more discerning about choosing a partner and when. Maybe we should be more honest with them about the heartbreak of infertility and ttc, especially if like me you've left it too late.
I'm 42 ttc no.1. I wrongly believed I had loads of time to settle down and have kids because my mum had me at 37. I didn't think the scare stories about declining fertility would apply to me. I figured with modern medicine etc my chances would be better but so far mother nature has other ideas.
If I had fully grasped that my fertility was finite would I have wasted time 'having fun' and dating undesirables who had no intention of committing?
I feel as though it would be seen as being politically incorrect to say to teenage girls "look if you think you want children later in life you need to start saving now and don't waste your time on losers."
I'm not saying that women should go back to the dark ages but sexual liberation has come at a high price and it's women not men who are paying.
I'm not convinced there should be yet another school initiative on this but something that comes from the community. Women getting together to pass on their wisdom to the younger generation.
Any thoughts?
