Teens should be taught that fertility is time-limited with TikTok videos trends now

Teenagers should be taught in school and on TikTok that their fertility is time-limited, the Government's women's health ambassador has said.

Professor Dame Lesley Regan suggested young women should be able to watch TikTok videos which explained to them that 'ovaries get worn out', to help them 'take charge of their fertility'.

Research shows women are at their most fertile in their twenties but, on average, fertility begins to decline after the age of 30 and drops off sharply after 35. 

Men's fertility also declines over time, particularly after the age of 45.

In 2020, the average age a woman had her first child in the UK was at a record high of 30.7 years, up from 26.4 in the mid-1970s, according to the latest official statistics.

Speaking at the annual conference of the fertility charity Progress Educational Trust (PET), Dame Lesley said society needed to 'do a lot more' to help prepare teenagers for adulthood, including spreading educational messages about fertility in magazines and on social media.

'We need TikTok videos don't we, and all of those sorts of things [like]: 'Remember that your ovaries get worn out or they get tired or they get too old',' she added. 

'We've got to impress on them [young people] the importance of all of those things and of taking charge of their fertility, either to explore it or to or to curtail it.

'So, I think the education side of it is absolutely crucial. And I don't think it should just be schools, I think it should be all of us in society making sure that we give adolescents the tools that they need to make the best decisions for themselves later in life - and I include the boys in that as well as the girls.'

World Health Organization scientist Dr Gitau Mburu said if a teenager was old enough to be taught about contraception and avoiding unplanned pregnancy, then they were ready to be taught about the limits to their fertility potential.