Black Fertility Matters Too: community-centered seminars improve fertility knowledge

Objective: Studies have demonstrated that Black individuals have less fertility knowledge compared with White individuals. We aimed to determine if a community-centered fertility education seminar (the Black Fertility Matters Too tour) could improve basic fertility knowledge in the Black community. Design: Pretest-posttest study. Subjects: Individuals self-identifying as Black who attended a community-based half-day fertility seminar. Exposure: Seminar lectures on fertility, infertility treatments, third-party reproduction, and access to care taught by healthcare providers of color, as well as personal stories from individuals with infertility. Main Outcome Measures: Improvement in fertility knowledge (preseminar vs. postseminar) measured by the total score on the Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale (CFKS). Secondary outcomes included improvement in individual CFKS items and follow-up scores several weeks later. Results: A total of 270 people attended the Black Fertility Matters Too seminars, and 102 participants completed preseminar and postseminar surveys. The mean age of participants was 40 ± 10.14 years. Most participants identified as women (90.2%) and Black (94.06%), with 44.55% currently experiencing infertility. The mean preseminar and postseminar CFKS scores were 66.0% (±17.5) and 77.5% (±15.79), respectively. Knowledge of the definition and prevalence of infertility increased significantly, as did knowledge of ovarian function, ovarian aging, and the influence of sexually transmitted infections on fertility. Twenty-four participants (23% of enrolled survey participants) completed a follow-up survey, on average, 5.85 months later, which demonstrated no significant difference from postseminar scores. All follow-up participants found the seminars helpful, and some individuals with infertility indicated they were motivated to seek fertility care after participating in the seminar. Conclusion: Community-centered seminars on fertility can improve basic fertility knowledge and may motivate individuals to seek fertility care. Further studies should evaluate how best to standardize these interventions and address structural barriers to fertility care in Black communities.