An exchange on Fox News raised eyebrows Friday after senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel suggested that part of the United States’ declining fertility rate is tied to fewer teen births, characterizing the drop among people ages 15 to 19 as a “problem.”
During a discussion on “America’s Newsroom” with anchor Dana Perino about new CDC data showing the U.S. fertility rate has fallen to a record low, senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel pointed to declining birth rates among younger Americans. The fertility rate fell 7 percent in 2025, from 53.8 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age in 2024 to 53.1 in the most recent year, the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the CDC, reported Thursday.
Perino said that while the long-term trend is not unexpected, she said the latest figures could still be “a little shocking.”
“Absolutely. We still have 3.6 million births a year,” Siegel replied. “But the problem is teens and young adults from ages 15 to 19, the fertility rate is down 7 percent, and it’s down 70 percent over the last two decades, meaning we’re telling people that are young not to have babies, to wait until they’re in a more stable life situation, until they’re more financially secure. Maybe they haven’t found the right partner.”
Teen pregnancy in the U.S. reached its peak in the late 1950s, around 1957, when the birth rate for girls ages 15 to 19 climbed to 96.3 per 1,000. That spike was largely tied to post-World War II social norms, when early marriage and early childbearing were far more common.
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Since then, the rate has declined sharply over the decades, though it briefly rose in the late 1980s and peaked around 1991 before continuing its long-term downward trend. The reasons for the decline are not entirely clear, but evidence suggests it is largely driven by fewer teens being sexually active, as well as increased use of birth control among those who are, according to a 2024 CDC report.
Age of consent laws vary by state, generally ranging from 16 to 18 years old, though some states include exceptions in cases where underage teens are close in age.
The overall fertility rate decline in the U.S. extends beyond just teenagers, Siegel noted.
“Dana, people are having kids in their 30s now, not their 20s,” he told the anchor. “And again, that’s leading to one thing I want to point out. The replacement rate is down to 1.56, meaning every couple is having, on average, 1.56 children in the United States. We need two or above to keep the population at the same amount.”
The Independent has contacted Fox News representatives for comment.
Raising a child in the U.S. has become increasingly unaffordable, with costs adding up for essentials like child care, food, and other daily needs amid the affordability crisis affecting many families.
A new estimate from LendingTree puts the total cost of raising a child through age 18 at $303,418 in 2026, averaging about $16,857 per year. This is the first time the figure has surpassed $300,000 since the company began tracking it in 2023, reflecting a roughly 2 percent increase from the previous year, the company said.
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