Birth Rates Hit Historic Low in U.S.
- by Natasha Hobley
- Published
- Environment
Birth rates in the United States hit a historic low last year according to data from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and experts say there is evidence that the cause of this decline is not simply due to couples delaying when they wish to start growing their families.1
Just under 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2023—roughly 76,00 fewer than the year prior and the lowest one-year tally since 1979. The number of births were steadily declining for over a decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, then dipped from 2019 to 2020. Numbers increased for two consecutive years after that. This was attributed, in part, to pregnancies that couples had postponed due to the pandemic.1
Birth rate trends have long been falling for teens and women in their 20s but have demonstrated rising rates for women in their 30s and 40s—a reflection of women postponing starting families to pursue education and careers before starting families. But last year, birth rates fell for all women under age 40 across almost all racial and ethnic groups.1
Nicholas Mark, PhD, a University of Wisconsin researcher who studies how social policy and other factors influence health and fertility, said that the development of historically low birth rates was surprising and that “there’s some evidence that not just postponement is going on.”1
Birth Rates in Europe Declined Sharply Following COVID Vaccination
European researchers determined that birth rates in 19 European countries declined sharply toward the end of 2021 following peak COVID vaccine uptake. Switzerland experienced an especially extreme plummet in birth rates that exceeded that of both World War I and II, the Great Depression, and the introduction of oral contraceptives.2
Despite continued assurances from medical and public health professionals insisting that the COVID shots and vaccines in general do not affect reproductive health, that information has not been proven. An October 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) stated that vaccination against COVID was not associated with adverse outcomes for pregnancy and birth but stated that “pooled evidence from large studies regarding neonatal and maternal outcomes of COVID vaccination during pregnancy is scarce.”2
Despite a lack of long-term data and several studies finding women experienced menstrual cycle changes after receiving a COVID shot,3 4 5 the mainstream medical community continues to insist that the product’s ability to negatively affect fertility is a myth.
Infertility Rates Increase, Sperm Counts Fall Nearly 60 Percent
Alongside a downward trend in birth rates, infertility rates across the world are also on the rise, with roughly one in six women unable to become pregnant, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).6 Shanna Swan, PhD a leading researcher of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on human fertility at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said that sperm counts among men in the industrialized world fell nearly 60 percent from 1973 to 2011.7
No Long-Term Data on Effects of Vaccine Schedule on Fertility
Underlying causes of infertility are multifaceted, but it is worth noting that section 13.1 of many vaccine product information inserts state that the vaccine has “not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential of impairment of fertility.”
The number of vaccinations on the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule nearly tripled after the U.S. Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which partially shielded vaccine manufacturers from liability for injuries and deaths caused by federally recommended childhood vaccines, a partial liability shield that was extended by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 to full liability protection. There have been no large, long-term studies to investigate the safety and potential negative effects on health and fertility of the government’s recommended childhood vaccine schedule.
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