Infertile Americans older and black

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 34

Infertile Americans older and black

NZPA-AP Atlanta Federal health researchers have said that Americans of child-bearing age who cannot have children fit a distinct statistical pattern: they are more likely to be black, older, and poorly educated. Fourteen per cent of all American couples, or more than one in eight, were infertile in 1982, the latest year for which statistics are available, the National Centres for Disease Control reported. The C.D.C. classifies as infertile any couple not using contraception and failing to conceive children for at least a year. A survey of infertile married women aged 15 to 44 showed that, while only 2 per cent of those 15 to 19 were unable to have children, 27 per cent of those 40

to 44 could not conceive. Infertility rates generally increased as women got older, from 11 per cent for women 20 to 24 and 9 per cent for women 25 to 29, up to 14 per cent for women 30 to 34 and 24 per cent for women 35 to 39. Twenty-one per cent of the black women surveyed were infertile, as compared with only 13 per cent of the white women. The highest infertility occurred in women who had never had any children. Some 21 per cent of all women with no children were classified as infertile. A C.D.C. researcher, Sevgi Aral, said 1982 education figures were not available, but in a 1976 survey the highest infertility rate occurred in women with less than a high school education

— 14 per cent, compared with 9 per cent for high school graduates and for women who attended college. Infertility rates fluctuated because of several factors, including disease, the age distribution of the population, the age at which couples began having children, and the means of contraception used before attempting to have children; the C.D.C. said. The health agency noted that, unfortunately, the treatment of infertility was both costly and often ineffective... public health professionals must direct efforts towards prevention rather than cure. The C.D.C. recommended increased control of sexually transmitted diseases, which can cause infertility.