Fertility is an Existential Frontier
How innovation, not ideology, will fix the unprecedented decline in childbirth.
“Children are the R&D department of the human species.”
— Alison Gopnick
In a previous letter, The Birth Drought: Why Declining Populations Are an Existential Risk—And How Innovation Can Reverse It, I explained why the global collapse in fertility is one of the most profound existential risks of our time. The conversation on this matter is only becoming more critical.
Fertility rates are declining almost everywhere. The global average is now 2.3 children per woman, down from 5.0 in 1960 (and falling fast). In countries like South Korea, Japan, and Italy, birth rates have dropped below 1.3—well below replacement. And in China, the population began shrinking in 2022 for the first time since the 1960s.
We need to act, and we are facing an existential opportunity.
So, how do we stop the collapse? And how can we do it not through state mandates or ideological panic but through entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment in the human future?
The birth drought is a market failure—and a business opportunity.
Let’s start with several truths:
We’ve built an economic model that treats people like resources.
We subsidize consumption, not creation.
We optimize for productivity, not continuity.
We’ve poured trillions into digital convenience but almost nothing into reproductive longevity, parental support infrastructure, or pro-family design.
This is a systems design failure.
And like every market failure, it is a call to build.
Building a pro-natal economy is a significant opportunity—driven by biotech, AI, urban design, financial products, and services that make parenthood viable, aspirational, and scalable.
What would it look like if we rebuilt humanity's future through entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and cutting-edge science?
1/ Fertility tech as a growth category
The fertility space has been stagnant for decades. IVF success rates remain under 30% for most women. Male infertility is poorly understood. And egg freezing is expensive, niche, and under-utilized.
But that’s changing. And it’s changing fast:
Alife Health uses AI to optimize IVF treatment, improving success rates and lowering costs. Gameto is developing cellular therapies to extend ovarian function and delay menopause. Dadi and Legacy are pioneering at-home sperm testing and cryopreservation, making male fertility trackable and actionable. And Future Family is building financing tools to make fertility care accessible to the middle class.
This is a $40B+ category hiding in plain sight. And we’re just getting started.
2/ Urban infrastructure designed for parenthood
The modern city was built for speed, consumption, and single-person households. It’s time to reinvent it for families, multi-generational living, and resilience.
Startups like Nabr (co-founded by Bjarke Ingels) are rethinking how we build housing, keeping flexibility, community, and affordability in mind. The next generation of real estate and urban infrastructure companies should be asking:
Can you raise a child affordably here?
Can you walk to childcare, healthcare, and parks?
Can you live near your aging parents without financial strain?
If the answer is no, you’re building for the past—not the future.
3/ New financial instruments for the reproductive economy
If you can finance a $100,000 MBA, you should be able to finance a child. What if we could provide:
Parenting investment accounts that adjust with life events.
Fertility treatment bonds that hedge age-related risk.
Reproductive insurance products for egg freezing, IVF, or surrogacy.
Prenatal health portfolios that tie health outcomes to future care credits.
Wall Street loves new asset classes. Let’s create one that nurtures the human future.
We are not facing a software problem but a biological and infrastructural opportunity—science is the leverage point.
We must invest in science that gives people more time, clarity, and control over their reproductive futures. We should extend the female fertility window through ovarian rejuvenation and stem-cell-based egg generation. We should build better sperm quality diagnostics and hormone optimization tools for men. We should develop artificial wombs for women with high-risk pregnancies or infertility, allowing biological parenting without physical risk.
Fertility science should be one of the next frontiers of biotech.
All of this innovation only matters if it connects to meaning. We must move past narratives of sacrifice and towards generative ambition. Family is not a detour from purpose—it is an extension.
Cultural institutions, brands, schools, and influencers must make the creative power of parenthood aspirational again.
We don’t need propaganda. We need possibility.
This isn’t about ideology. This isn’t about coercion. And this isn’t about top-down planning. Fertility is a frontier, not a crisis. And this is about choice, freedom, and opportunity.
We must build a world where the decision to have children is affordable and inspiring. We must build tools that restore reproductive confidence. We must fund founders who understand that humanity is our most valuable long-term asset. We must also unlock the most important economic engine of all: the next generation.
Not through fear. Not through guilt. But through vision.
The markets are ready.
The science is here.
Now, we need to build.
Thanks for reading,
Yon
👋 Hello! My mission with Beyond with Yon is to ignite awareness, inspire dialogue, and drive innovation to tackle humanity's greatest existential challenges. Join me on the journey to unf**ck the future and transform our world.
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AI assistants were used to help research and edit this essay.