The following submission statement was provided by /u/Gari_305:

From the Article

>It’s important to remember that when the fertility rate declines below replacement—currently 2.1 births per woman in so-called developed countries—populations shrink. This may not be a bad thing at first since overpopulation and overconsumption are huge barriers to building sustainable societies. But there comes a point when if fertility rates don’t level off and then rise to replacement, extinction become a possibility.
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>That is apparently where we are heading as a global society. A phenomenon as complex as fertility cannot be explained by one or even a few factors. There is, for example, what is called the “demographic transition,” a theory which posits that the size of households declines as societies industrialize. This could result from many factors such as the empowerment of women (to control their own fertility); improvements in public health and nutrition that reduce mortality among infants and children (making parents less likely to have many children because some are likely to die); the rising cost of raising and educating children; and cultural factors that lead parents to want to have more time for themselves.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/z6y8xa/path_to_extinction_sperm_count_accelerates_its/iy3no6y/