Pronatalists, a controversial fringe group almost exclusively from the political right, claim that some of the most powerful people in the US government are sympathetic to their cause. But how much influence do they really have?

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Simone Collins is sitting in her 18th century cottage in Pennsylvania, dressed in a black pilgrim pinafore with a wide collar, bouncing one of her four children on her lap. It is 8.30am and she looks a little tired – she runs several businesses, a foundation and is currently pregnant with her fifth child, though she and her husband Malcolm plan to have more.

"At least seven," she declares, "and as many as I can physically carry - 12 would be even more brilliant."

The US couple, aged 37 and 38, ardently believe that the world needs to have more babies or risk civilisational collapse. They have become the poster children for pronatalism, a movement that believes falling birth rates are a big problem for society. And that big families are the answer.

For the last five years, they have spread the word about their goal by opening up their home for interviews and photoshoots. They claim to have used special technology, during the IVF process, to screen their embryos for traits such as intelligence.

"The studies let us know what our genetic predilection for IQ is," they told an undercover reporter in 2023. "We will never choose a child who is less privileged in IQ than either of us."

Speaking today, however, Malcolm admits, "The easiest way to [spread the word about pronatalism] was to turn ourselves into a meme... If we take a reasonable approach to things and say things are nuanced, nobody engages. And then we go and say something outrageous and offensive and everyone's into it."

But since Donald Trump was sworn in as US President for the second time earlier this year, they have taken their evangelising to a new level. The Collinses now see certain people in the White House as potential allies - and they fully intend to capitalise on that.

Elon Musk, who is said to have fathered 14 children, has called fertility decline "the biggest danger civilisation faces, by far". He has donated $10m (£7.75m) to the Population Wellbeing Initiative in Texas, which conducts research into fertility, parenting, and the future of population growth.

The US Vice President JD Vance has also spoken openly about his views on procreation. At an anti-abortion rally in January he declared: "I want more babies in the United States of America."

There are early indications that the Trump administration is prioritising family too. On 18 February, Trump signed an executive order to improve access for IVF that recognised "the importance of family formation and that our nation's public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children".

Pronatalists are buoyed by this and many hope it is a sign of things to come.

The facts of fertility decline are clear. The US is at a record low of 1.62 children per woman, and by the end of the century the UN projects a majority of countries will have a shrinking population. That will have a profound effect on society and our economies. Some people believe we can adapt over time to this new reality, but pronatalists are less sanguine.

But there is a political element to the movement too. Pronatalists are almost........

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