Fertility counseling among family physicians in Turkey: a cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitudes, and practices.

Authors

Mehmet Faruk Olcenoglu, Merve Olcenoglu, Havva Demircioglu, Gamze Savci, Ayse Zehra Ozdemir Kaya

Published in

Frontiers in medicine. Volume 13. Pages 1884680. Epub Jul 10, 2026.

Abstract

There are limited data on how family physicians approach fertility counseling in Turkey. We aimed to assess family physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and counseling practices regarding fertility, reproductive planning, and oocyte cryopreservation (OCP) in Turkey.
An online, cross-sectional survey was conducted among family physicians practicing in family health centers or community health centers across Turkey between January and June 2026. Physicians were recruited until a predetermined sample size of at least 400 valid responses to the researcher-developed survey was reached, which included the collection of participant data and the fertility counseling questionnaire.
The proportion of family physicians supporting the proactive discussion of patients' reproductive plans was 34.2%, while 53.6% supported discussing age-related fertility decline and 62.6% supported discussing OCP with appropriate patients. Correct identification of the age range at which mild and pronounced fertility declines began was achieved by 60.6 and 54.1% of participants, respectively. Self-reported familiarity with OCP was lower than the support shown for counseling about OCP. Familiarity with OCP was higher among younger and unmarried physicians. A significant portion of participants anticipated that insurance coverage and clarification of legal regulations would increase the frequency of counseling.
In Turkey, attitudes toward fertility counseling at the primary care level do not always align with contemporary knowledge. The findings suggest a need for structured education, particularly regarding age-related fertility decline, the realistic limits of in vitro fertilization (IVF) success, and indications for OCP, as well as institutional and policy frameworks to facilitate counseling.

PMID:
42500546
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Jul 2026.

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