❓WHAT HAPPENED: Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that American teenagers have lower sperm counts and testosterone levels than men in their sixties during a White House event addressing fertility issues.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald J. Trump, and Medicare administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.
📍WHEN & WHERE: October 16, at the White House during an event promoting greater fertility drug access under the Trump administration.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Today, the average teenager in this country has 50 percent of the sperm count, 50 percent of the testosterone as a 65-year-old man.” – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
🎯IMPACT: The remarks have renewed the debate over declining U.S. fertility rates.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has issued a stark warning about the state of American fertility, calling the ongoing decline a national security concern. Speaking alongside President Donald J. Trump, Kennedy pointed to a dramatic drop in birth rates over the past several decades, emphasizing the urgency of the crisis. “When my uncle [John F. Kennedy] was President, the fertility rate in this country was 3.5 percent,” he said. “Today, it is 1.6 percent. The replacement rate, in other words the amount of fertility that you need in order to keep your population even, is 2.1 percent. We are below replacement right now. That is a national security threat to our country.”
Kennedy, 71, also highlighted the deteriorating reproductive health of America’s youth, stating, “Today, the average teenager in this country has 50 percent of the sperm count, 50 percent of the testosterone as a 65-year-old man. Our girls are hitting puberty six years early, and that’s bad, but also our parents aren’t having children. Parents who want to have children do not have access.”
Highlighting issues such as exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, Kennedy praised President Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative for taking concrete steps to address such hidden health hazards.
Recent CDC data supports Kennedy’s concerns. The total fertility rate in the United States fell to 54.4 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in 2023. While the raw number of births slightly increased, the general fertility rate continued to decline, especially among younger women. Demographers warn that if left unchecked, this could lead to long-term economic and social consequences.
Joining Kennedy at the event, Medicare administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz expressed optimism about reversing the trend. “The fundamental creative force in society is about making babies,” Oz said. “We’ve been under-babied for years.”
Kennedy’s remarks reflect a broader push within HHS to reorient U.S. public health around long-term well-being and national resilience. Since taking office, he has led efforts to reduce America’s dependency on foreign pharmaceutical supplies, challenged corporate influence in health policy, and rejected global mandates that don’t align with U.S. priorities, while successfully pressing major companies to eliminate synthetic dyes and other dubious ingredients from the national food and drugs supply.
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