Fertility knowledge and awareness in oocyte donors in Spain

To evaluate motherhood intentions and awareness of the limits of fertility as related to menstrual cycle, female age, and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in oocyte-donation candidates in Spain.

Cross-sectional study with 229 women seeking information about oocyte donation in March-October 2013. Women were interviewed by healthcare professionals.

The majority of participants (95.6%) wanted to be mothers in future and 36.7% already had children. Even so, knowledge about female reproduction was low: 48.3% failed to identify the ovulation time, 48.5% missed women's fertility peak before 25, and 27.9% overestimated the age limits for ART. University education does not improve global fertility knowledge and is associated with a later intended age for childbearing (p = 0.001), which results in a twofold risk of childlessness at age of 30 (RR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.11-3.43).

We conclude that fertility knowledge is insufficient but, encouragingly, nearly 30% of interviewees were proactive in seeking information from the healthcare professionals.

The future fertility of young people should be protected through educational interventions emphasizing the increasing phenomenon of age-related infertility at every point of contact with a women's health professional, for instance, when oocyte-donation candidates attend a fertility center for an information visit.