A letter published in response to recent coverage argues that the global drop in fertility rates is not driven by rising biological infertility. The author, Peter Foreshaw Brookes, director of The Centre for Family and Education, contends that while pollutants have been blamed for reducing fertility, evidence suggests otherwise.
Biological Infertility Not to Blame
Brookes points to a meta-analysis from last year that found sperm counts increased in the US in recent years when controlling for regional variation. He also notes that time to pregnancy (TTP), a direct measure of how quickly couples conceive, increased in Britain in the late 20th century but has been stable in the US between 2002 and 2017 for women under 30, with only a 4% increase for women who already had a child. Meanwhile, infertility rates have remained steady or decreased in developed countries.
Alternative Explanations
Brookes suggests that the turning point for fertility rates in the western world was around 2007-10, when rates peaked and then declined. He argues that economic conditions and smartphone usage, which affects coupling, are more likely causes of the fertility bust than pollution-related damage.
