“For men, in 1970 men had twice the sperm count as our teenagers do today. This is an existential crisis for our country.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said that there is a fertility crisis in the country, and that sperm count in male teenagers today is half of what it was in 1970. The comment from Kennedy was announced as President Donald Trump revealed that the administration would be launching Moms.gov, a one-stop-shop for expectant mother resources.
Kennedy, in the Oval Office, said while discussing the crisis of low fertility in the US, “For men, in 1970 men had twice the sperm count as our teenagers do today. This is an existential crisis for our country.”
With the effort, Trump announced the launch of Moms.gov, a website dedicated to sharing resources with expecting mothers such as pregnancy centers, nutrition information, and other information. In addition, the president has proposed a rule in the Department of Labor that will expand fertility benefits for employees. The announcement comes on the heels of Mother's Day.
“Today I'm pleased to announce that the Department of Labor is issuing a new rule to formally create a fertility benefit option for employers that can be offered to all employees outside of their normal health insurance plans,” Trump said in the Oval Office announcement.
The fertility proposal “would establish a new category of limited excepted benefits” for IVF, per the Department of Labor, and aims to make IVF treatment more affordable for those seeking to have a family.
Along with the proposal announcement, Trump highlighted the launch of Moms.gov which aims to address “the needs of mothers and fathers who face difficult or unexpected pregnancies and ensuring the wellbeing of mothers and the health of American families.”
"Like President Trump, we don't want affordability or accessibility to be an impediment to that. So not only at his direction, and I was proud to lead the effort in the working families tax cuts to modernize the tax code to make sure that childcare was front and center for the first time since Ronald Reagan, she added.
The series of announcements come as the Trump administration has been making a push for higher fertility rates as the population has been far below replacement rates in recent years. The Moms.gov website also features resources for parents to kick-start their children's Trump accounts, a seed investment account available to children born after January 1, 2025, and before December 31, 2028.
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