NHS - 8 out of 10 people under 40 will get pregnant within a year...

[Wickstead]

If they have sex without contraception regularly.

Bet they won’t....

FFS.

I'm actually really offended by the assigning of species to the 'baby' at birth rather than letting them self-identify when they are older. A very special small percentage may consider themselves to be lizards or frogs or dodos or something and it is taking away their not-human rights to so callously force societal expectations on them in this way.

It should read 80% of heterosexual couples where the woman is between 16 and 40 years old.

Transmen shouldn't be included in this statistic because medication, surgery, puberty blockers etc will have a significant impact. They should be directed to their own page with statistics and care information relevant to their situation.

I would agree tibtom.

As long as the signposting is clear then that's fine. Everyone is catered for.

If you're going to encourage writers to replace the word woman, you really need to employ people who also understand logic.

And maths would be nice. Vaguely related thing that make me shake my head yesterday:

twitter.com/ConceptualJames/status/1358843756213121026

"97 British MPs were asked "If you spin a coin twice, what is the probability of getting two heads"

While most Conservative MPs [though still only 53% of them] selected the correct answer (25%), 77% of Labour MPs failed to answer the simple probability question correctly"

The sentence is one of the best examples of why you need the word woman though.

Is very useful to be able formulate and process the information they are trying to convey here:

"8 out of 10 [people who would expect to be able to get pregnant] will get pregnant..."

This sort of concept is so useful, it's hard to imagine any language on earth not having a one-word term for the thing in square brackets.

Actually - that's a challenge.

Are there any human languages which do not have a one-word term for "adult human female"? At all?

I didn’t pick up on that when I read it. I guess I was just thinking it was meaning couples. I know it’s not couples who get pregnant but lots of people say things like “we’re pregnant”, which isn’t something I do.

Honestly though I haven’t found the NHS in the leaflets and book etc I’ve received in regards to pregnancy to be particularly “woke”. They use the word women all the time.

I have noticed it in some North American videos and websites and it’s more glaring when it’s talking about specific biological issues.

I also find the use of indefinite article before ‘vagina’ odd.

‘You’ ovulate, but sperm enters ‘a’ vagina. Doesn’t matter which one. Perhaps you can catch one running wild on the moors.

It’s so bloody insulting.

It reads like an embarrassed biology teacher trying to explain reproduction to a group of school children.

What’s your point( why do you think this isn’t accurate? Many people get pregnant easily

They do if they are female. You can imagined, maybe, some naive men giving it a go, though. You never know!

I also find the use of indefinite article before ‘vagina’ odd

Me too! You can sense the amount of thought and consideration that has gone into writing such a simple sentence, to the point that it feels over-contrived and very odd indeed.

For balance it should have said "When a sperm enters a vagina".

Or rather more simple and straightforward " When sperm enters the vagina". No need for re-invention.

Just brought teen DS up to speed. Very rewarding. A confused WTAF face, followed by incoherent spluttering, followed by a rant about the importance of actual biology.

(Plus a very astute comment that he didnt think this was being driven by actual trans people, he thought it was being driven by holier than though types who want to show how right-on they are.)

CaraDuneRedux - good parenting! Gives me hope for the future!

@SomersetHamlyn

Oh I see. That's the issue? I couldn't understand on what basis you were disagreeing with the statistics (which are presumably evidence-based).

Given that 5 of the 10 people won't ever be able to get pregnant, the evidence is a bit shaky I'd say.

@Tibtom

It should read 80% of heterosexual couples where the woman is between 16 and 40 years old.

Transmen shouldn't be included in this statistic because medication, surgery, puberty blockers etc will have a significant impact. They should be directed to their own page with statistics and care information relevant to their situation.

Agreed. The text quoted is a fudge. The reader is being expected to know that 'people' actually means women, or a couple in a het relationship, rather than 'people' meaning people. It's disingenuous. Plus those people who need to try and achieve pregnancy or parenthood by a different route need advice specific to their situation. You just can't use gender neutral language here without loss of meaning.

Plus those people who need to try and achieve pregnancy or parenthood by a different route need advice specific to their situation.

I agree. It's as though it's trying to avoid offence by not acknowledging all the assumptions made in the article, but the article only makes sense if the reader makes all those assumptions. This has the effect of making clear language taboo.

Merde - is better warn DS that he is at risk there.

@NecessaryScene1

If you're going to encourage writers to replace the word woman, you really need to employ people who also understand logic.

And maths would be nice. Vaguely related thing that make me shake my head yesterday:

twitter.com/ConceptualJames/status/1358843756213121026

"97 British MPs were asked "If you spin a coin twice, what is the probability of getting two heads"

While most Conservative MPs [though still only 53% of them] selected the correct answer (25%), 77% of Labour MPs failed to answer the simple probability question correctly"

How many people (meaning people this time) actually know the answer to that though?

Have provided feedback to the NHS.

Whilst browsing I noticed this NHS style guide:
service-manual.nhs.uk/content/inclusive-language

Sex, gender and sexuality
The language around sex, gender and sexuality changes all the time and it's an area that people hold strong and differing opinions about. We try to make sure that we are in touch with the communities we are writing for and we update this guidance regularly. This section should help you get started but the best thing is to test your content and services with the people who use them.

Only mention sex, gender or sexuality if they're relevant, for example, to signpost people and help them get the health information and access to treatment they need.

When to use "sex" and when to use "gender"
Many people think that sex and gender are the same but they mean different things. It's important to be clear about the difference.

Sex
Sex is biological (male or female). It's based not only on the genes we inherit, but also on how our external and internal sex and reproductive organs work and respond to hormones. Sex is the label that's recorded when a baby's birth is registered.

We use "sex" or, better still, the body part associated with biological sex when we're writing about things like screening that is sex specific, for example, breast and cervical screening.

Sex assigned or registered at birth
We use the phrase "sex assigned at birth" when we're talking about trans health and gender dysphoria, as this is the language our audience uses. In other cases, we use "the sex someone was registered with at birth" because user research shows that most people understand this better as it refers to an actual event.

Intersex
We use "intersex" in some content about people with differences in sex development (DSD) because some people prefer it to DSD.

DSD involves genes, hormones and reproductive organs, including genitals. A person's physical sex development, internally, externally or both can be different to most other people's.

Most people with DSD have a clear sex that is registered at birth.
Some adults with DSD prefer the term "intersex" to DSD but they may want to keep their legal sex as male or female. Other people see "intersex" as distinct from male and female.

Gender
Gender is more complex. It refers to our internal sense of who we are and how we see and describe ourselves.

Someone may see themselves as a man, a woman or neither (non-binary). Being non-binary can mean having no gender, a different gender, or being in between genders. Gender can be fixed or fluid. Some people identify with a gender opposite to the sex they were registered with.

We use the word "gender" when we're:

• discussing the social idea or identity as opposed to the biological sex, for example, if we're writing about gender dysphoria or transgender health and social care

- writing about a survey or report based on gender, such as gender diversity - writing about the results of a national census, where there is a question about gender identity as well as sex to identify the trans (including non-binary) population

Gender neutral language
We make content gender neutral as far as possible. In general, we word our content to avoid masculine and feminine pronouns ("he" or "she"). Instead we use "you" where appropriate and sometimes "they" when we need a gender-neutral pronoun (unless this is confusing).

Avoid asking users for their title, such as Mr, Miss, Mrs, or Ms.

Transgender
We use "trans" as an umbrella term to describe people whose current gender identity or way of expressing their gender differs from the sex they were registered with at birth. Some, but not all, trans people want to transition (change) socially or medically or both.

We use "trans woman" for someone who was registered male at birth and now identifies as a woman and "trans man" for someone who was registered female at birth and now identifies as a man.

We use "trans woman" or "trans man" in content about the particular health needs of trans people - for example, screening or treatments that trans people need to be aware of, like advising a trans man about cervical and breast screening.

Otherwise, we leave out the word "trans" and just refer to men and women, if relevant.

Note: we use "sex assigned at birth" when we're writing for a trans audience. Read more about sex assigned or registered at birth.

@merrymouse

It reads like an embarrassed biology teacher trying to explain reproduction to a group of school children.

Thats exactly how it reads Merry and I'm not happy because I have 'that look' on my face again

Looks like they've changed it. It's still incorrect.

It’s worse.

At least before they could hide behind the assumption that the person’s attempt to become pregnant was informed by prior knowledge.

Now it’s just 80% of people who have sex without contraception.

Have warned my brother.

He cast aspersions on the sense and sanity of the caring team who wrote this, and has offered to demonstrate the realities of male biology if this would help.

It’s very difficult to know who this is aimed at - apparently people who know enough about sex to know who might ovulate, but not enough to be aware of sperm.