Secular procreation: Metaphysics of birth in the 21st century

This article examines how modern anti-natalist movements have emerged in Japan, India, China and the United States. Drawing on interviews, online discussions and public protests, it explores these movements' distinctive secular understanding of human procreation. While traditional societies interpreted birth using religious or spiritual frameworks, anti-natalists consider procreation an ethical decision shaped by legal reasoning, scientific knowledge and existential philosophy. They portray birth as a random event subject to calculation, raise questions about consent to life and position parents as ethically responsible ‘small gods’. These movements, which have found resonance among urban youth, point to deep changes in how people think about family ties and social obligations. Questions about having children have become more complex as reproductive technologies multiply and environmental pressures mount. What was once taken for granted now prompts serious ethical reflection.