At a press conference held in Budapest on Monday to mark Fertility Awareness Week, Bence Rétvári, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, emphasized the importance of understanding one’s body and personal health as aging brings irreversible changes. The event, taking place from April 7 to 14, aims to raise awareness about childbearing issues.
Rétvári highlighted the confusion often faced by individuals who wish to have children, as they receive mixed information. He stressed the need for people to be informed from a young age about how their age and lifestyle choices impact their fertility.
The State Secretary also shared that the government has been working to provide better access to information on childbearing. One of the steps taken is the creation of the website vagyottgyermekekert.hu, where people can find reliable, scientifically verified content, including articles and videos on both natural and assisted conception.
Rétvári pointed out the state’s significant role in supporting infertile couples. Since the government took over the full support of fertility treatments, the number of couples receiving help has more than doubled. In 2018, before the state’s involvement, around 5,000 to 5,700 couples accessed infertility treatment annually. This number has now risen to over 10,000. The number of children born through IVF has also increased, from approximately 1,450 to more than 2,000 annually. The availability of free medications has played a key role in this rise.
Furthermore, Rétvári noted the opening of four infertility outpatient clinics in Budapest, Miskolc, Nyíregyháza, and Szombathely, with plans for four more in the future.
The Fertility Awareness Week event offers an opportunity for participants to ask experts questions. Rétvári pointed out that infertility affects one in seven couples in Hungary. Organizers also shared troubling statistics: while 44% of young people believe they are informed about childbearing, nearly 80% actually lack sufficient knowledge. The experts also noted that although more women are planning to have children later in life, after the age of 35 or even 40, fertility chances significantly decrease after this age.
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