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The End of Babies
NY Times ^ | Nov 16, 2019 | Anna Louie Sussman

Posted on 11/18/2019 5:09:14 PM PST by Morgana

In the fall of 2015, a rash of posters appeared around Copenhagen. One, in pink letters laid over an image of chicken eggs, asked, “Have you counted your eggs today?” A second — a blue-tinted close-up of human sperm — inquired, “Do they swim too slow?”

The posters, part of a campaign funded by the city to remind young Danes of the quiet ticking of their biological clocks, were not universally appreciated. They drew criticism for equating women with breeding farm animals. The timing, too, was clumsy: For some, encouraging Danes to make more babies while television news programs showed Syrian refugees trudging through Europe carried an inadvertent whiff of ugly nativism.

Dr. Soren Ziebe, former chairman of the Danish Fertility Society and one of the brains behind the campaign, believes the criticism was worth weathering. As the head of Denmark’s largest public fertility clinic, Dr. Ziebe thinks these kinds of messages, fraught as they are, are sorely needed. Denmark’s fertility rate has been below replacement level — that is, the level needed to maintain a stable population — for decades. And as Dr. Ziebe points out, the decline is not solely the result of more people deliberately choosing childlessness: Many of his patients are older couples and single women who want a family, but may have waited until too late.

But the campaign also notably failed to land with some of its prime targets, including Dr. Ziebe’s own college-age daughter. After she and several classmates at Copenhagen University interviewed him for a project on the campaign, Dr. Ziebe sought answers of his own.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: abortion; contraception; prolife
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To: rbg81; mrsmith
The new “in” thing (pushed by the Media) is to have pets instead of babies. Especially if you are White.

There's a new pet-service store opening not far away. Its window display advertises its offerings, among them social events with your pet. There is a picture of a smiling young blonde woman doing lawn yoga, in a group with others, with her miniature breed dog.

That's what this world is coming to.

21 posted on 11/18/2019 6:44:53 PM PST by thecodont
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To: Dilbert San Diego; stanne

You have made excellent points.


22 posted on 11/18/2019 6:46:07 PM PST by thecodont
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To: thecodont

Thank you.


23 posted on 11/18/2019 6:50:06 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Truthoverpower
if you don’t want to have kids then you’re just a loser

Maybe the behavior is rational. Looking out at the economic and culture landscape today I see; family courts that will rip men to shreds, College degrees that cost six figures, Middle class families that barely get by, County governments jacking taxes on houses that don't appreciate, Geezers who use the government to gobble resources at the expense of the young. I did my part for the gene pool, but I don't know if I would advise a 20 year old to do so.

24 posted on 11/18/2019 7:01:03 PM PST by Poison Pill
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To: jocon307

Great philosophers have said abortion is the result of birth control/the pill. Cultural acceptance of it


25 posted on 11/18/2019 7:09:36 PM PST by stanne
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To: Morgana

Don’t worry, Danes...

The muslims you let into your country will breed faster than you can imagine, and you’ll be calling them “Master” before long.

You can contracept yourselves out of existence in your own land... and your Viking ancestors will spit on you for letting savages take your land.


26 posted on 11/18/2019 7:21:33 PM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: Poison Pill

In the old days on the farm, children were a great asset.

(My wife grew up a farm with three sisters, and they worked hard every day on dozens on tasks.)

Today, when most folks live in urban and suburban areas, children are an economic burden.

That is a simple fact.

Moralizing and finger pointing will not change it.


27 posted on 11/18/2019 8:18:34 PM PST by cgbg (The Democratic Party is morphing into the Donner Party)
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To: cgbg
Today, when most folks live in urban and suburban areas, children are an economic burden. That is a simple fact.

That's exactly right. And nobodies going back to the farm. We're likely in for 100 years of worldwide population decline. The US may weather the storm because we know how to assimilate immigrants. China is in for very rough ride. Japan is doomed.

28 posted on 11/18/2019 8:40:51 PM PST by Poison Pill
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To: Morgana
For some, encouraging Danes to make more babies while television news programs showed Syrian refugees trudging through Europe carried an inadvertent whiff of ugly nativism.


There is nothing at all wrong with wanting to preserve western culture.
29 posted on 11/18/2019 8:56:03 PM PST by The_Media_never_lie (Please, oh pretty please let Crazy Uncle Joe Biden be the nominee.)
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To: Morgana

>>>Morgana wrote:
You may blame abortion and contraception for declining fertility.<<<

Yes....but there is also the question of men wanting to get married and start a family. I think the incentive for men to marry is at an all time low in our country. You can’t start a proper family with a man wanting it.


30 posted on 11/18/2019 8:57:55 PM PST by BJ1
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