U.S. fertility rates have hit historic lows. New hormone-tracking platforms like Oova and Mira reveal how metabolic health, diet, and environmental toxins are reshaping reproductive health — and what it will take to reverse the trend.
US fertility rates have fallen mainly because people are choosing to have fewer children or to have them later, NOT because they’re unable to. The biggest drivers are economic and social: the rising cost of housing, childcare, healthcare, and education; delayed marriage and longer periods spent in school or building careers; and shifting cultural norms that place less emphasis on having large families (or any children at all).
At the same time, better access to contraception has sharply reduced unintended pregnancies, especially among younger people, which has contributed significantly to the overall decline.
Biological factors DO NOT APPEAR to play a known role in this trend, according to multiple large population-based studies over the last 3 decades. All credible evidence shows that underlying fertility (the ability to conceive) hasn’t declined enough to explain the drop in birth rates, but indicators like reduced rates of unintended pregnancy point very clearly toward changes in behavior, NOT BIOLOGY. There is ongoing debate about potential environmental or health influences, but these remain secondary and uncertain compared to the much clearer impact of economic pressures and personal choices.
This topic is extremely complex. Ms. Sapola looks at it from the perspective of female fertility,
and is incomplete. It does not implicate hormone mimicing chemicals that are sprayed
on crops that become animal food that in turn wind up on dinner plates. Tyrone Hayes, a PhD
biologist documented infertility in amphibians, in PPM (parts per million) amounts.
Sapola correctly points out urinary hormone profiles are better. The reasons are convenience, directly assaying the free form of the desired hormones, but also flutuations during the course of the day within the cycle.
From the perspective of alerting clueless consumers, the article has merit.
There is an ancillary article on plummeting sperm counts that stays in its lane.
We might have learned a few things from Rachel Carson, or organic philosophy.
Your comment is woefully incomplete and simpleminded. It is true that young parents are so choosing, that assumes it explains the phenonema, it does not.
Contraception in the form of pills is a failed control fertility control. You are promoting "studies" that are designed as pay to play schemes to "educate" persons like thyself...
There is no "ongoing debate" there is the preponderance of evidence over time
I have 4 young(ish) adult "children", all in their 30s, all doing well in their careers, and 3 grandkids.
I have long considered the 1972 "The Limits To Growth" projections, since learning about them in 10th grade in 1974.
I have been interested that young people do not think it is a good world, in which to raise children these days. That is the most often cited reason that I have been given for at least 15 years for deciding not to have children "until that gets better".
Part of that may be debt burdens placed on young college grads, and not being able to afford a house, but we were able to sacrifice and none of our offspring have had such educational debt since 2018, and it was only the one who went to med school.
Two of the four have kids, one wants to soon, and one remains reluctant for reasons of the world that is coming, though he and his wife are doing well, as he is a manufacturing engineer in aerospace, and irreplaceable at his company.
People are not all puppets.
People are thoughtful about the choice to bring children into the world and raise them properly, as we have done in our family.
Yes, some people are less thoughtful and dependent upon economic waves, but we are entering a time of less and less and less material prosperity in our world, and the culling of human populations by our "owners" (Carlin) is already underway, since the slow-poison mRNA "{vaccine products" were introduced in 2021, increasing the baseling of cancers, autoimmune disease, heart attacks and strokes.
Stop vaccinated the young , stop spraying the skies, stop poisoning the Water with Fluoride and Tetrazine , stop uduterating the food, stop spraying the crops with Glysophates ,stop the sedentary lifestyle ,stop wearing chemical infused tight synthetics ,stop using Razors with gel blades , get out outside into the sunshine ,stop working so hard ,stop being stressed, stop the lack of sleep stop using so many electronics ,get out of Cities etc etc .
Frankly: American women must be dissuaded from thinking 1) that abortion is "health care"; 2) that it's a "human right"; and 3) that it is necessarily preferable to putting a newborn up for adoption. Given how much that Christian morality has been dismissed and ridiculed, other arguments favoring natality can nonetheless be made.
I understand why it's not included in this article, but an elephant in the room is abortion. Total abortions in 2024 were 1,141,830, up from 1.05 million in 2023 (8.7% increase). Not only is this number significant, but from year to year, most are due to different individuals choosing abortion, so there is a large pool of women who may have scarring or other procedure related injuries that prevent full term pregnancy. With medication abortions accounting for 63% of abortions in 2024, accomplished without a medical professional and no verification of the number of weeks a woman is pregnant, the likelihood of injury is higher. Add to this the 2023 reported 1,648,568 cases of Chlamydia, which, depending on disease progression when identified can cause infertility, though that is also not something we like to acknowledge in our culture. Clearly, the sexual "freedom" we supposedly have creates a hellish future for many who later decide to have a family.
I can tell you some of the problems can get to be very H A I R y completely X ivy with am.protein problems the later being a guess BUT rest assured X. Marks all the map for the treasure lies beneath. THANK YOU MAHA. RFK and team... ITS been being A Really Good SHOW.
I hope MAHA is focused on the dangerous health and environmental impacts of Micro-Particulate Highway Pollutants, like PM 2.5, as well as Brake and Tire Wear Powder, in order to protect hundreds of millions of at-risk individuals across the US?
All three of these pollutants can be in the form of microscopic particles, which when breathed in, pass through the walls of one’s lungs and can be carried, by one's bloodstream, into organs, like one’s brain, and, in the case of pregnant women, into the child or children they are carrying!!!
I wonder if these particles might also impact woman fertility and male sperm counts?
As it relates to the health impacts of PM 2.5, note the following scientific article:
Discussing fertility by referencing delays in child rearing, economic insecurity, GLP 1 drugs for obesity and Diabetes control, etc. only explore the "low hanging fruit" of the new infertility crisis. Nowhere is it discussed the evolution in cultural ethics and ideals as a likely factor in the declining birth rate.
The last 40 years has brouht the social ethic of parental abdication to disciplin and the inculcation of self relience and responsibility in children. The last 3 generations believe in personal entitlement and demonstrate a lack of initiative. Child rearing itself has been substantially devalued by modern feminism. Parenting looks economically unrewarding and "too much trouble" because it involves constant engaugement. Our culture no longer teaches parenting as hardest and most rewarding job in a persons life. This, to the neo - socialist left, would be a threat to the narrative that gainful employment is the only worthwhile goal.
So we may be looking under the bed for lost socks, when they sit right in front of ius on the chair.
In a recent opinion piece in The Hill, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin wrote that the EPA will move to classify pyrolysis as manufacturing, limiting the pollution regulations that facilities would be subject to. Do plastics in the air affect testosterone and other hormones?
US fertility rates have fallen mainly because people are choosing to have fewer children or to have them later, NOT because they’re unable to. The biggest drivers are economic and social: the rising cost of housing, childcare, healthcare, and education; delayed marriage and longer periods spent in school or building careers; and shifting cultural norms that place less emphasis on having large families (or any children at all).
At the same time, better access to contraception has sharply reduced unintended pregnancies, especially among younger people, which has contributed significantly to the overall decline.
Biological factors DO NOT APPEAR to play a known role in this trend, according to multiple large population-based studies over the last 3 decades. All credible evidence shows that underlying fertility (the ability to conceive) hasn’t declined enough to explain the drop in birth rates, but indicators like reduced rates of unintended pregnancy point very clearly toward changes in behavior, NOT BIOLOGY. There is ongoing debate about potential environmental or health influences, but these remain secondary and uncertain compared to the much clearer impact of economic pressures and personal choices.
This topic is extremely complex. Ms. Sapola looks at it from the perspective of female fertility,
and is incomplete. It does not implicate hormone mimicing chemicals that are sprayed
on crops that become animal food that in turn wind up on dinner plates. Tyrone Hayes, a PhD
biologist documented infertility in amphibians, in PPM (parts per million) amounts.
Sapola correctly points out urinary hormone profiles are better. The reasons are convenience, directly assaying the free form of the desired hormones, but also flutuations during the course of the day within the cycle.
From the perspective of alerting clueless consumers, the article has merit.
There is an ancillary article on plummeting sperm counts that stays in its lane.
We might have learned a few things from Rachel Carson, or organic philosophy.
Your comment is woefully incomplete and simpleminded. It is true that young parents are so choosing, that assumes it explains the phenonema, it does not.
Contraception in the form of pills is a failed control fertility control. You are promoting "studies" that are designed as pay to play schemes to "educate" persons like thyself...
There is no "ongoing debate" there is the preponderance of evidence over time
and the intelligence to assess...
I have 4 young(ish) adult "children", all in their 30s, all doing well in their careers, and 3 grandkids.
I have long considered the 1972 "The Limits To Growth" projections, since learning about them in 10th grade in 1974.
I have been interested that young people do not think it is a good world, in which to raise children these days. That is the most often cited reason that I have been given for at least 15 years for deciding not to have children "until that gets better".
Part of that may be debt burdens placed on young college grads, and not being able to afford a house, but we were able to sacrifice and none of our offspring have had such educational debt since 2018, and it was only the one who went to med school.
Two of the four have kids, one wants to soon, and one remains reluctant for reasons of the world that is coming, though he and his wife are doing well, as he is a manufacturing engineer in aerospace, and irreplaceable at his company.
People are not all puppets.
People are thoughtful about the choice to bring children into the world and raise them properly, as we have done in our family.
Yes, some people are less thoughtful and dependent upon economic waves, but we are entering a time of less and less and less material prosperity in our world, and the culling of human populations by our "owners" (Carlin) is already underway, since the slow-poison mRNA "{vaccine products" were introduced in 2021, increasing the baseling of cancers, autoimmune disease, heart attacks and strokes.
War and famine are joining the parade now...
One of the factors that wasn’t mentioned is the role that societal movements had. When JFK was President, the feminist movement was gaining ground.
Now, with technology and more influencers, there is more push to not have kids.
Here’s an article on the impact of feminism on society and ultimately fertility rates as well: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/how-feminism-and-dei-destroy-humanitys
COVID SHOTS ARE THE REASON 4 POPULATION REDUCTION!!
Stop vaccinated the young , stop spraying the skies, stop poisoning the Water with Fluoride and Tetrazine , stop uduterating the food, stop spraying the crops with Glysophates ,stop the sedentary lifestyle ,stop wearing chemical infused tight synthetics ,stop using Razors with gel blades , get out outside into the sunshine ,stop working so hard ,stop being stressed, stop the lack of sleep stop using so many electronics ,get out of Cities etc etc .
Frankly: American women must be dissuaded from thinking 1) that abortion is "health care"; 2) that it's a "human right"; and 3) that it is necessarily preferable to putting a newborn up for adoption. Given how much that Christian morality has been dismissed and ridiculed, other arguments favoring natality can nonetheless be made.
Another big factor is the widespread damage from the mRNA vaccine that flooded bodies with the toxic spike protein.
No. This is a decades long trend. See my other comment and
https://www.themahareport.com/p/why-are-american-fertility-rates/comment/252027386
Not surprised: not a good world to bring a child in to. Especially after the COVID pandemic and neuro toxin vaccines forced for children already here.
I understand why it's not included in this article, but an elephant in the room is abortion. Total abortions in 2024 were 1,141,830, up from 1.05 million in 2023 (8.7% increase). Not only is this number significant, but from year to year, most are due to different individuals choosing abortion, so there is a large pool of women who may have scarring or other procedure related injuries that prevent full term pregnancy. With medication abortions accounting for 63% of abortions in 2024, accomplished without a medical professional and no verification of the number of weeks a woman is pregnant, the likelihood of injury is higher. Add to this the 2023 reported 1,648,568 cases of Chlamydia, which, depending on disease progression when identified can cause infertility, though that is also not something we like to acknowledge in our culture. Clearly, the sexual "freedom" we supposedly have creates a hellish future for many who later decide to have a family.
COVID 😢
and the covid jabs.
I can tell you some of the problems can get to be very H A I R y completely X ivy with am.protein problems the later being a guess BUT rest assured X. Marks all the map for the treasure lies beneath. THANK YOU MAHA. RFK and team... ITS been being A Really Good SHOW.
I hope MAHA is focused on the dangerous health and environmental impacts of Micro-Particulate Highway Pollutants, like PM 2.5, as well as Brake and Tire Wear Powder, in order to protect hundreds of millions of at-risk individuals across the US?
All three of these pollutants can be in the form of microscopic particles, which when breathed in, pass through the walls of one’s lungs and can be carried, by one's bloodstream, into organs, like one’s brain, and, in the case of pregnant women, into the child or children they are carrying!!!
I wonder if these particles might also impact woman fertility and male sperm counts?
As it relates to the health impacts of PM 2.5, note the following scientific article:
See: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28877564/#:~:text=Intracranial%20atherosclerosis%20is%20one%20of%20the%20leading%20causes,Asian%2C%20African%20or%20Hispanic%20origin%20than%20in%20Caucasians.
And as it relates to Brake and Tire Wear Powder Pollution, note the following:
See: https://www.me.ucr.edu/news/2020/10/05/brake-and-tire-wear-particles-emerging-source-air-pollution
See: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/tires-unseen-plastic-polluter
See: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=tire+wear+pollution&type=E211US1456G0#id=5&vid=f28139f65fafc7e26931b98585a6c6a7&action=view
See: https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2020/1109/A-pollution-solution-where-the-rubber-meets-the-road#:~:text=The%20vulcanized%20rubber%20compound%20that%20makes%20up%20the,motor%20oil%2C%20bits%20of%20pavement%2C%20and%20other%20litter.
Note the impact analysis done by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on Brake and Tire Wear Powder Pollution:
See:
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/documents/brake-tire-wear
Discussing fertility by referencing delays in child rearing, economic insecurity, GLP 1 drugs for obesity and Diabetes control, etc. only explore the "low hanging fruit" of the new infertility crisis. Nowhere is it discussed the evolution in cultural ethics and ideals as a likely factor in the declining birth rate.
The last 40 years has brouht the social ethic of parental abdication to disciplin and the inculcation of self relience and responsibility in children. The last 3 generations believe in personal entitlement and demonstrate a lack of initiative. Child rearing itself has been substantially devalued by modern feminism. Parenting looks economically unrewarding and "too much trouble" because it involves constant engaugement. Our culture no longer teaches parenting as hardest and most rewarding job in a persons life. This, to the neo - socialist left, would be a threat to the narrative that gainful employment is the only worthwhile goal.
So we may be looking under the bed for lost socks, when they sit right in front of ius on the chair.
Dr John
And what about EMFs? Laptops. Phones close to reproduce organs? Our 5 year old sitting with laptops?
Get him a lead apron and/or run a wire from the router
and covid jabs.
In a recent opinion piece in The Hill, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin wrote that the EPA will move to classify pyrolysis as manufacturing, limiting the pollution regulations that facilities would be subject to. Do plastics in the air affect testosterone and other hormones?
How do we register for the upcoming Round table on Fertility?