According to the French government, France is facing a huge challenge. The birthrate has been in decline for a decade now, but in 2023 it was down by 7% on the previous year. In response, the president, Emmanuel Macron, has announced a plan for what he calls “demographic rearmament” including fertility testing for those aged 25. Besides the war-like rhetoric that treats a high birthrate as a way for France to compete internationally, this discussion of people’s bodies as part of a national plan makes me queasy.
Such a utilitarian view of the birthrate not only puts an unhelpful burden on the shoulders of all French people of childbearing age, but is an offensive intrusion in to our intimate lives and personal choices. At 46, Macron himself has chosen not to be a father – why can’t he let everyone else make their own choices?
