Chapter 2: The Fertility Crisis

Wherever women are given a bit of education and access to free, private contraception, birth rates plummet to levels that are below those needed to replace the human population.

‘Chapter 1’ is what happens when acceptance of the doctrine of the patriarchy takes full flower, but no form of feminist ideology is needed to cause a serious dearth of children. Motherhood is such a drain on becoming the person you really are destined to be. It’s twenty-odd years of work and worry, when you can’t revel in the pleasures life has to offer. Even if you want to have the experience of motherhood that requires only one child, and he or she can have your full, undivided attention. Maybe two if you’re really into letting children have siblings, but then there is lots of squabbling and rivalry too. And children are so expensive! Three ... are you kidding?

Through the mid-21st century, declining birthrates in developed countries were offset by robust ones in less developed nations. Immigration from poorer lands made up for population loss in richer lands.

But as enlightenment spread to all corners of the globe, birth rates everywhere dropped. The earth was happier with fewer people, but when the population got down to one quarter of its high-water mark, worry set in. How could humanity save itself from extinction?