New Delhi, June 23 -- India's population estimates often provoke extreme reactions: frustration over overpopulation or alarm over the signs of a falling fertility rate. However, such narratives fail to capture a nuanced picture-one that centres around what couples go through in their fertility journey.

A recent report by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)-State of World Population-finds that Indians are now having fewer children than needed to offset deaths. A parallel crisis is also playing out with many couples struggling to meet their fertility goals, having either more or fewer children than planned, facing several barriers and struggling with coercion.

India's total fertility rate (TFR) fell to 1.9 in 2025, according to estimates from ...