Women’s preventive services initiative: fertility counseling overlooked

Abstract

The 2021 Women's Preventive Services Initiative Well-Woman Chart outlines a framework for incorporating preventive health services recommended by the Women's Preventive Services Initiative, the US Preventive Services Task Force, and Bright Futures based on age, health status, and risk factors. Following the previous guidelines for preventive care, this document failed to offer recommendations or guidelines for infertility screening and fertility counseling in the course of well-woman care. Healthcare providers may be less likely to address fertility with their patients in the absence of clear, evidence-based recommendations, potentially resulting in underinformed reproductive choices and compromised reproductive potential. Given the devastating consequences of infertility and unintended childlessness, we, herein, propose that infertility screening and fertility counseling should become an integral part of well-woman care and that organizations, such as the Women's Preventive Services Initiative, put forth guidelines to assist providers in addressing fertility throughout a woman's reproductive lifespan.