ABSTRACT
I. Introduction In 2007, more than 45% of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) were over age 18 and expectations are that individuals born after 2000 will survive into their fifth decade; thus CF-related reproductive health has become increasingly relevant for patients and families. Adolescents and young adults with CF have similar age of onset of sexual interest and activity as their healthy adolescent peers (1,2) and are in need of disease-specific sexual and reproductive health information that goes beyond what a primary pediatrician or gynecologist can be expected to provide. There are no formal guidelines about timing and content of discussions for CF providers although there have been several published recommendations in the academic literature (2-4). Adolescents and young adults with CF are more likely to be the initiators of reproductive health discussions than their health care providers (5). However, 87% of adolescents with CF report having never discussed sexual or reproductive health with their CF provider (6). Nonetheless, the majority identified their CF provider and parents as the preferred source of reproductive health information (6-8).
