Overview
- Speaking at a White House event where President Donald Trump promoted discounts for fertility drugs and IVF access, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserted that U.S. teenagers have about half the sperm count and testosterone of a 65-year-old man.
- Kennedy framed falling U.S. fertility as a national security concern, citing a rate of roughly 1.6 compared with a 2.1 replacement level and alleging earlier puberty in girls by about six years.
- HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the department relies on peer‑reviewed research, referencing papers from 2017 and 2022 that report long‑term declines in sperm counts.
- Reproductive specialists quoted in coverage say data on young men are scarce and findings across studies conflict, undercutting the specificity of Kennedy’s teenage comparisons.
- Kennedy’s line that “our parents aren’t having children” drew widespread ridicule online, and Medicare administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz predicted “a lot of Trump babies” from the administration’s IVF reforms.