Counseling Reproductive-Age Youth With Epilepsy: Literature Review and Expert Opinion From the Epilepsy in the Child-Bearing Ages Through Menopause Consortium

Marie E. Clements, Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Norton Children's Neuroscience Institute, Louisville, Kentucky.
Christina Briscoe, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Angela M. Curcio, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York. Electronic address: angela.curcio@nyulangone.org.
Laurie M. Douglass, Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Janani Kassiri, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta & Stollery Children's Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Lynn C. Liu, Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Sally V. Mathias, Department of Neurology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky.
Debra T. Moore-Hill, Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia.
Deepthi Nalluri, Epilepsy Centers of Excellence, Richmond VA Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia.
Audrey Nath, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
Amanda M. Romeu, Pediatric Neurology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia.
Tahniat Syed, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Victoria Vinarsky, Division of Epilepsy and Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, George Washington University and Children's National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia.
Susan Wiener, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, New York.
Qian-Zhou JoJo Yang, Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Sarah J. Betstadt, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, New York.
Elizabeth I. Harrison, Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Neil Kulkarni, Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio.
Preeti Puntambekar, Department of Neurology, Westchester Medical Center Health Network, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York.
Debopam Samanta, Child Neurology Division, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Laveena Singla, Department of Neurology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi.
P Emanuela Voinescu, Division of Epilepsy, Division of Women's Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Laura Kirkpatrick, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: laura.kirkpatrick2@chp.edu.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

11-7-2025

Journal

Pediatric neurology

Volume

175

DOI

10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2025.11.002

Keywords

Adolescent; Adolescent health; Epilepsy; Reproductive health

Abstract

Epilepsy in the Child-Bearing Ages through Menopause is an international consortium of clinicians dedicated to improving the health of women with epilepsy across the lifespan. Epilepsy in the Child-Bearing Ages through Menopause's Adolescent and Young Adult Committee addresses quality of care for female youth with epilepsy. The Committee developed a literature review and expert opinion guidance for child neurologists on performing optimal counseling about epilepsy and reproductive health for female youth with epilepsy. To do so, we identified and voted on key topics essential for this counseling, then conducted comprehensive literature reviews for each topic, iteratively developed key statements about counseling content and style for each topic and voted on final content for inclusion. The included topics were teratogenesis, folic acid supplementation, pregnancy and fertility, contraception, heritability of epilepsy, menstrual and hormonal disorders, catamenial epilepsy, and taking a sexual history. This review provides a clear, novel framework for pediatric neurologists to counsel adolescent and young adult women with epilepsy about their reproductive health, supporting improvement in practices recommended by professional organization such as the American Academy of Neurology and Child Neurology Foundation.

Department

Neurology

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