{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T06:18:18Z","timestamp":1783491498376,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783468800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Korea government"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"National Research Foundation of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n South Korea faces a declining total fertility rate (0.72 in 2023) alongside rising infertility rates. Infertility is often interpreted within a pronatalist sociocultural context emphasizing marriage, parenthood, and traditional gender role expectations. Despite increasing infertility rates, little research has focused on how young adults\u2014particularly university students\u2014perceive infertility.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n A descriptive correlational study was conducted with 159 unmarried university students (mean age = 21.6 years; 79.2% women). Participants completed an online survey measuring infertility perception (using the Infertility Perception Scale for Women, IPS-W), traditional gender stereotypes, and family values. Data were analyzed using independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n The mean infertility perception score was 37.97 (SD = 8.23), indicating a moderately positive perception. Male students, those with religious affiliation, and those without exposure to media on assisted reproductive technology held significantly more negative perceptions (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.05). Infertility perception was positively correlated with traditional gender stereotypes (\n r<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.541) and family-oriented values emphasizing marriage and childbearing (\n r<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.584). Multiple regression revealed that gender stereotypes (\n \u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.370, (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.001) and family values (\n \u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.457,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.001) together explained 49% of the variance in infertility perception (adjusted R\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n \u202f=\u202f0.49).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Discussion<\/jats:title>\n Stronger endorsement of traditional gender roles and family-oriented values that prioritize childbearing was associated with more negative perceptions of infertility. Integrating gender-sensitive and media-supported infertility education into university curricula and public health strategies may improve perception, reduce stigma, and foster healthier reproductive decision-making.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1741644","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T05:54:48Z","timestamp":1783490088000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Infertility perceptions and associated factors among Korean undergraduate students: a cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Miok","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Nursing, Dankook University","place":["Cheonan, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hyeon Sik","family":"Chu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Nursing, Dankook University","place":["Cheonan, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Su Jeong","family":"Yi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Nursing, Dankook University","place":["Cheonan, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Changes in the Number of Births and Total Fertility rate in South Korea, Visual Statistics","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"Analysis of Infertility and Subfertility Treatment Service Utilization","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1186\/s12978-020-0904-5","article-title":"Development and psychometric evaluation of the female infertility stigma instrument (ISI-F): protocol for a mixed method study","volume":"17","author":"Taebi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Reprod 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