Credit…Alec Soth/Magnum Photos

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Three scenarios for a more fertile American future.

Credit…Alec Soth/Magnum Photos

ByRoss Douthat

Opinion Columnist

• March 27, 2021

The declining American birthrate is a frequentpreoccupationof this column, and over the years that I’ve been writing about the problem it’s only gotten worse, with the apparent Covid-19baby busta punctuation mark.

But with the pandemic’s end inspiring various forms of optimism, hopes of faster growth and scientific breakthroughs, it’s worth considering what optimism about the future of fertility might look like. Because if you assume that dynamism and growth are desirable…