Fertility Awareness as a Component of Sexuality Education: Preliminary Research Findings with Adolescents

Fertility awareness refers to the observation and interpretation of cervical mucus, often called vaginal discharge. A womanʼs cervical-mucus pattern indicates the time of ovulation and differentiates the fertile and infertile phases of the menstrual cycle from each other. Fertility awareness-enables a woman to know when pregnancy can and cannot occur on a daily basis during each menstrual cycle. There has been, to date, almost no exploration of the appropriateness of fertility-awareness instruction for adolescents. A review of the literature on adolescent cognitive development, sexual activity, knowledge of fertility and contraceptive risk taking behavior is presented. Based on the literature review, a theoretical rationale for fertility-awareness Instruction as a unique sex-education curriculum for adolescents is proposed. The content and teaching techniques of a fertility-awareness presentation for teenagers is described. Directions for future research in fertility-awareness Instruction for teenagers, and the need for longterm follow-up to assess the effects of such education on teenagersʼ sexual activity and contraceptive use are discussed