FertiSTAT Fertility Status Awareness Tool

Research shows that people do not behave optimally when it comes to their fertility. First, negative lifestyle habits (e.g., illicit drug use, alcohol consumption) or indicators of such [e.g., obesity, sexually transmitted infections) have increased markedly over the past decade especially in young people. Second, people do not seek help in a timely fashion when they reproductive problems or have difficulty trying to achieve a pregnancy/father a child.

One reason for these findings may be that people do not know that their behaviour (poor health habits, not getting medical advice) puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to their fertility. Further, although people may have some basic knowledge of risk (e.g., smoking is bad for health therefore bad for fertility), they may lack the precise details of critical thresholds of when behaviour becomes a problem.

The aim of this research project was to create a fertility status awareness tool (FertiSTAT) that would enable women to gain personalised guidance about reducing risks to their fertility and seeking timely fertility medical advice based on their own lifestyle and reproductive profile.