New life for the New Year
Humans are back in the family business
- Dateline
- 2 January 2044
In 2024 the first baby was born using Fertilo, an ovarian support cell (OSC) technology that matures eggs outside the body.
Twenty years on, it’s commonplace for humans to use assisted repro tech when planning their family. We’ve gone way beyond IVF, so-called test-tube babies, with an array of bioengineered and genetically enhanced systems for improving reproductive outcomes. Why leave things to chance, when technology is there to help?
As we all know, birthrates and fertility have been plummeting for decades, not only in the advanced economies, but in developing nations too. That’s not surprising, as raising kids has a greater financial impact than even buying a home. At the same time, life expectancy has been ratcheting up with medical breakthroughs, powered by advanced biotech and artificial intelligence.
While it’s true that robots have been taking up the slack, both boosting the workforce and caring for the aged, humanity was facing an existential crisis in the long run. Ultimately, we need babies to perpetuate the species. Natural reproduction and childbirth is such a hit and miss affair, we can’t leave it up to nature.
Now we have the means to make it easier, simpler, and more comfortable for couples to plan additions to their family, whether they are having fertility issues or not. As long as eggs are available, they can be matured and supported to ensure viable pregnancies and successful deliveries. It’s not like we’ve entered the era of designer babies – yet – but it’s painless and trauma-free to have a child, with a guaranteed success rate.
With planned parenthood becoming an exact science, it’s not surprising that people are choosing the exact date for their child’s birthday, and New Year’s Day is one of the most popular. Yesterday saw a record number of births on 1 January, globally.
That’s a lot of new life for the New Year. Hooray!
Links to related stories
- Global fertility rates to plunge in decades ahead, new report says | CNN
- First Baby Born Using Technology That Matures Eggs Outside the Body | Inside Precision Medicine
- New Fertility Treatment Answers an Urgent Need - Bloomberg
- Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born | BBC
- Failure to launch sinks Japan – Mindbullets (Dateline 8 August 2026)
- Germany’s workforce woes - Mindbullets (Dateline 9 June 2031)
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