As critics of the Trump administration worry about the president creating another Gilead, à la The Handmaid’s Tale, his secretary of health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hasn’t done much to put a damper on those concerns. You don’t really calm the American people’s nerves when you start talking about the fertility of young girls and lack thereof of teenage boys versus older men. Yeah, it’s all pretty gross, but trust RFK Jr. to say his quiet part out loud literally 100% of the time.
In an October 16, 2025, meeting at the Oval Office, per People, RFK Jr. spoke about girls hitting puberty at a younger age and teenage boys having 50% of the sperm count as older men. What was he getting at, exactly? Apparently, those facts and figures were meant to support his claim that IVF will be more accessible for people who want to be parents. But the tangent he seemed to go on was not lost on people.
RFK Jr: "Today the average teenager in this country has 50% of the sperm count, 50% of the testosterone of a 65 year old man. Our girls are hitting puberty 6 years early … our parents aren't having children." pic.twitter.com/RJFEVeqS0p
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2025
According to RFK Jr., younger girls are more fertile these days.
There’s little reason to bring up puberty among girls if RFK Jr.’s goal was to talk about fertility help for people who are already parents or who desperately want to become parents. Speaking on potential fertility in young girls in general is so far from necessary that, to some, RFK Jr.’s thoughts and plans for the Department of Health are concerning.
“Today, the average teenager in this country has 50 percent of the sperm count, 50 percent of the testosterone as a 65-year-old man,” he said. “Our girls are hitting puberty six years earlier, and that’s bad, but also our parents aren’t having children.”
According to RFK Jr., something that has contributed to lower sperm counts in boys and earlier puberty for girls is chemicals in food and fluoride. He has been a vocal supporter of getting rid of artificial food dyes in foods across the US, but there hasn’t been official significant research to back up the effects of food dyes on reproductive systems in children before they are adults.
People are worried about what RFK Jr.’s views on fertility mean for the country.
@pottymouthpollyanna This is Gilead! They want to control us from childhood to adulthood and here's how they will do it.
♬ original sound – Mandy Rae💙
Because RFK Jr. spoke about puberty in young girls and IVF for parents in the same breath, it led to some concern on social media. When one user shared a TikTok about RFK Jr.’s comments in the Oval Office, she wrote in the caption, “This is Gilead! They want to control us from childhood to adulthood and here’s how they will do it.”
Gilead is in reference to The Handmaid’s Tale, a book and TV show that depicts another version of the US where a totalitarian regime has taken over based on a worldwide fertility crisis. The solution is to have girls married young to begin having children as soon as possible and for decidedly sinful women and girls to be forced to get pregnant and give the children to other families.
In the comments under the TikTok video, other users shared their own concerns.
One user commented, “But why is RFK Jr. even TALKING about a 65-year-old man’s compatibility with a teenager???”
“My daughter is 12 and is already saying she doesn’t want to have babies if the country keeps this up,” someone else wrote.
Others are surprised that RFK Jr. was as candid as he was, and that fact alone is scary for some.
One user added under the TikTok video, “I’m sickened by them saying it out loud like it’s normal.”
