At the level of program policy rather than law, some parents insist that they should be present or be notified if their children seek reproductive health care. They argue that young people are too immature to understand medical advice or to make health decisions, and they require their parents' guidance. Requirements of spousal consent, too, can deny confidentiality even to married young people. When women marry young, their husbands, families, or health professionals may not acknowledge their right to make their own decisions about reproductive health. Many young adults are not willing to use services unless they are confidential, however.
Young adults are often shy and uncertain, and they fear ridicule and disapproval.
Many young people find it easier to buy supplies such as condoms and spermicides than to go to a clinic or counselor. Thus laws and policy that allow sales of contraceptives to young adults and unmarried people are important. At the same time, other ways to distribute contraceptives should be available, particularly to those who cannot find a place to buy them or who cannot afford them. Change hostile, judgmental, or reluctant attitudes. Even where law and policy give young adults access to reproductive health information and care, hostile or reluctant individuals may stand in the way.