U.S. Fertility Rates Near Historic Lows

Fertility rates in the United States are now among the lowest levels ever recorded, based on provisional data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this month. According to the CDC report, the general fertility rate declined to 53.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15-44, down 23 percent since 2007, reflecting a nearly two-decade downward trend. This follows a record low of 53.0 births per 1,000 women in 2023, the lowest level documented in recent U.S. data. Public health experts say persistently low fertility rates can lead to an aging population with fewer younger workers to support programs like Social Security and Medicare, which may strain the economy and healthcare system over time.¹

The CDC report also highlights a continued decline in teen births, which fell seven percent in 2025 alone and have dropped 72 percent since 2007 and 81 percent since 1991, reaching record-low levels in modern U.S. history. Public health researchers have attributed this long-term decline to a combination of factors, including increased access to contraception, delayed sexual activity among adolescents, and broader cultural shifts, though the report itself does not analyze underlying causes.

Teen birth rates in the U.S. peaked in 1957 during a post–World War II “baby boom,” which began  in the years immediately following World War II in the 1940s. While the trend of fewer teen births is generally viewed as a public health success, it also is an indicator of the broader pattern of declining fertility rates across the U.S.^{1 2}

Teen Birth Rates Continue Long-Term Decline Since 1957 Peak

Researchers at the Pew Research Center have linked declines in U.S. fertility rates to economic conditions, noting in a 2011 analysis that birth rates fell during the Great Recession in the 1930s. Although the economy later recovered, teen birth rates continued to decline—and at a faster pace than rates among women in other age groups.²

Cesarean delivery rates have also increased, with 32.5 percent of births occurring by cesarean section in 2025, the highest level since 2013. Low-risk C-section deliveries rose to 26.9 percent, the highest since 2012.¹

Environmental Exposures and mRNA COVID Biologicals Cited in Fertility Decline

Epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher, MPH suggests environmental toxins play a critical role in declining fertility rates. In a Substack post analyzing the findings of the CDC report, he says the latest data “suggest biological impairment driven by exposure to environmental toxins such as PFAS (“forever chemicals”), phthalates, BPA/plastics, pesticides, EMFs, heavy metals, air pollution, and most recently, mRNA injections.”³

“Since 2021, 80 percent of Americans were injected with COVID-19 gene-transfer shots that damage the reproductive system,” Hulscher says. “In animal models, they destroy over 60 percent of women’s non-renewable egg supply. In human data (n=1.3 million), vaccinated women have ~33 percent fewer successful pregnancies.”³

Hulscher also references a recent peer-reviewed study, published in March 2026, which found spike protein and vaccine-derived mRNA in human placental tissue and fetal immune cells, including in mothers who were vaccinated before pregnancy and had no documented SARS-CoV-2 infection. He pointed out in his article that the study suggested that  “mRNA and spike protein invade the human placenta and fetal cells. He said “37 percent of placentas from vaccinated mothers contained spike protein.”^{1 4}

Birth Rates Declined in 19 European Countries Following COVID Injections

European researchers reported declines in birth rates across multiple countries during the period following peak COVID shot uptake in late 2021. The analysis identified decreased birth rate patterns across all countries included in the dataset, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro and Serbia. Switzerland experienced a pronounced decline in birth rates during this period.⁵

Researchers and commentators have suggested multiple contributing factors to declining fertility rates. Vaccine product inserts for some COVID shots state that the products have “not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential or impairment of fertility.”⁶

The number of vaccinations on the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule nearly tripled between 1983 when 23 doses of seven vaccines were recommended for children and 2023, when there were more than 70 doses of 17 vaccines recommended. Many new vaccines were licensed and federally recommended 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 cumulative effects on health and fertility of the government’s childhood vaccine schedule.⁶

Studies Examine Reproductive Outcomes Following mRNA COVID Shots

A June 2025 Israeli study reported an association between first exposure to an mRNA COVID-19 shot during early pregnancy (weeks eight to 13) and higher-than-expected rates of pregnancy loss, with many losses occurring later in gestation, including after 20 weeks. Around the same time, a population-based study from the Czech Republic, published in the International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, found lower rates of successful pregnancy among women who received a COVID-19 injection prior to conception compared with those who did not.⁴

A study published in JAMA in October 2025 reports that stillbirth rates in the U.S are 17 percent higher than previously estimated and have not declined despite advances in prenatal care. The authors found that many stillbirths occur in pregnancies classified as low risk, with nearly half of term losses occurring in people with no identifiable clinical risk factors. Stillbirths were also more likely to occur at or beyond 40 weeks’ gestation, and the study notes that a portion of these deaths may be preventable.⁴

“The implications of this collapse are profound and far-reaching,” Hulscher warns. “America is no longer reproducing at replacement levels needed to sustain its population. If these trends continue unchecked, the nation will face severe economic, demographic, and societal consequences in the decades ahead.”³

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