| Summary: | Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe, analyze and compare university students’ desire to have children, when they wanted to have their first and last child and their knowledge about fecundity in relation to the background factors: age, gender and educational level. This study will also investigate differences regarding university students’ desire to have children along with when they wanted to have their first and last child and their knowledge of declining fecundity at increasing age. Method: A descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional study with quantitative method was used in the study. Five hundred university students visiting a Student Health Centre (SHC) in a Swedish town, Uppsala, participated in the study. All visitors at the SHC were asked to participate in the study. The participants answered 52 questions, of which 10 questions were selected for this study. Results: The majority of the participating students (128 men and 324 women) wanted to have children. Despite this fact they lacked knowledge about the age at which fecundity declines. Men in general had poorer knowledge of fecundity than women, and young students had poorer knowledge than older students. The study showed that women wanted children earlier than men and younger students earlier than older students. There was no difference found in educational level and knowledge in fecundity or desire to have children. The level of knowledge students had about declining fecundity at increasing age did not affect their desire to have children, or when they wanted their first and last child. Conclusion: The study confirms previous research on knowledge about fecundity and the desire to have children among students. Once again evidence is presented that women have greater knowledge than men, that young people lack adequate knowledge about fecundity, and that the majority of students want to have children. Evident is that there is a need for further education and to create better conditions for childbearing, with purpose to facilitate a secure family planning for students.
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