Elon Musk has his 'legion.' How will Republicans encourage other Americans to have babies?

The pronatalist movement finds itself in power

Photo collage of Elon Musk showing off a box full of white, blonde baby dolls, piled in a huge stack.
There is a difference 'between being pro-natalist and being pro-family'
(Image credit: Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images)

Elon Musk says the world needs more babies, and he is doing his level best to help the cause. The world's richest man has fathered at least 14 children with four women. Pronatalist Republicans increasingly see him as a champion for their cause.

"Multiple sources" say it is likely the "true number of Musk's children is much higher than publicly known," said The Wall Street Journal. He reportedly refers to all those children as his "legion" and says they are "relevant to his ambition for NASA" to send humans to Mars. That effort, Musk has said, is "critical to ensuring the long-term survival of humanity and all life as we know it." And "helping seed the earth with more human beings of high intelligence" is part of that mission, said the Journal.

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What did the commentators say?

There is a difference "between being pro-natalist and being pro-family," said Elizabeth Bruenig at The Atlantic. The pronatalist movement breaks down along "tech versus trad, future versus past, reproduction versus family" lines. Conservative Christian "trads" have long "animated" the GOP, but tech people like Musk have "more resources and power to market their ideology." Musk's own values, meanwhile, appear to be "detached from the usual ties of familial love" that trads embrace. One thing that is clear is that most of the billionaire's fans "won't be able to replicate the scale of his bloodline empire."

"Pronatalists focus on the numbers game," said Haley Strack at the National Review. That is why one of the proposals now contemplated by the Trump administration includes giving a "National Medal of Motherhood" to women who have given birth to six or more children. If the president wants Americans to have more children, his administration would be better off thinking about how to "address the indirect costs of parenthood, and how to create a baby-friendly culture." He should also take recommendations from pro-family advocates "for whom children are not just numbers."

What next?

The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics reported that the "number of births in 2023 fell to the lowest level in over 40 years," said Newsweek. "Low birth rates will end civilization," Musk said in a post on X.

Cuts driven by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have "slashed" a number of existing fertility and maternal health programs, said The Washington Post. Maternal health experts said the cuts "will have an enduring effect on women and children." They worry that other resources, including a maternal health phone line operated by the federal government, may also soon be shuttered. "We truly can't overstate the risk for families," said Wendy Davis, the CEO of Postpartum Support International.

Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.