Should three year-olds be taught about sex?

Experts from the British Fertility Society thinks children as young as three need to be told about the birds and the bees so they do not leave it too late to have children.
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The royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists surveyed of 1,000 young people and the results revealed worrying gaps in fertility knowledge and reproductive health, which medical exerts believe may lead to many missing out on the opportunity to have children in the future.

Professor Adam Balen, chairman of the British Fertility Society, said: “We should look at three and four-year-olds being introduced to ideas about where babies come from.”

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In recent years the age of women having their first child has gradually got older and the BFS has highlighted that female fertility starts to decline from the late 20s as the number of eggs a woman is born with are lost progressively over time.

Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, said: “So much sex education has placed such a strong emphasis on how to avoid pregnancy, that it has frequently presented a very negative image of childbearing … and some, to their cost, are leaving it too late.”

Professor Balen added: “Our aim is to ensure that sex and relationship education not only covers how to avoid pregnancy and sesxually transmitted diseases but also includes information about fertility and planning for the right time to start a family.

“It should be choice not chance - we want enable young people to make informed choices about pregnancy, whether that choice is to start a family or not.”

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