Awareness and attitude towards fertility and parenthood: a comparative study among medical students in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To compare the awareness, attitudes towards fertility, and intentions for parenthood between preclinical and clinical medical students. METHODS: An online cross-sectional study was conducted among preclinical and clinical medical students of King Faisal University, Al Ahsa, The study was conducted during the first semester of the academic year of a medical bachelor's degree program, utilizing a convenience sampling technique. A total of 225 students, comprising 148 from the 3 year and 77 from the 4 year blocks, rd th voluntarily completed self-reported questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version-26. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 21.56 +/- 1.55 years, with a slightly higher representation of females (54.2%) compared to males (45.8%). Among the participants, 45.8% were married, and only 11.1% had children, while the majority expressed a desire to have children (73.8%) within the age range of 2529 years. A significant proportion (44.9%) indicated a preference for 2-3 children. In terms of childcare, most participants agreed to its necessity. Interestingly, females across both academic years showed similar responses regarding the possibility of combining work/study, with almost equal numbers agreeing or remaining undecided. Clinical students exhibited greater fertility knowledge compared to preclinical students, with no significant differences observed based on gender. Furthermore, participants with a family history of infertility were more inclined to consider both IVF and adoption (p-value = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Clinical-year medical students showed improved understanding of female fertility decline and infertility causes, coupled with positive attitudes towards parenthood at a suitable reproductive age, preferring smaller families.