Did RFK Jr. say 'infertility is genetic'?

While the health secretary has long been concerned about infertility issues, this alleged quote needs a fact-check. Published Oct. 13, 2026 Claim: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “Infertility is genetic. If your parents can’t have kids, neither can you.” In summer and fall 2026, numerous posts claimed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said, "Infertility is genetic. If your parents can't have kids, neither can you." For example, a meme of Kennedy featuring the purported quote spread widely on Facebook on Oct. 2. Snopes readers have also reached out to us to verify the authenticity of the alleged remark. (Facebook user "Truth and Accountability Project") Though Kennedy has spread incorrect health information many times over the years, there is no evidence he said the above quote. Variations of this quote are on X and in humor books dating back years before he was sworn in as health secretary in 2025. As such, the remark is incorrectly attributed to Kennedy. Entering variations of the quote in Google, Bing (archived) and DuckDuckGo uncovered no authentic video or reportage indicating that Kennedy ever made such a statement. Earlier online examples of the quote are not attributed to him at all. One of the earliest variations of the quote on X, from Aug. 14, 2022, reads: "Infertility is genetic, if your parents couldn't have kids you also won't." Other X accounts, including one labeled as a parody account, shared the same quote days later. Another variant of the quote appears in the 2002 book, "Science Askew: A Lighthearted Look at the Scientific World," by Donald E. Simanek. An even earlier version appears in the 1997 book of humor, "Living, Laughing, and Loving Life," by Dan Miller and Jeanne Zornes. Snopes contacted Zornes to learn if the quote originates from this book. We will update this article if we learn more. While he didn't originate the quote in question, Kennedy has long been concerned with infertility issues. In May 2026, at a White House event, he raised the alarm on male infertility, saying: The fertility crisis for women began in 2007; for men in 1970. Men had twice the sperm count as our teenagers do today. This is an existential crisis for our country. We had a series of presidents who were trying to discourage childbirth and motherhood in this country. We now have a president who is trying to encourage it. In 2025, Kennedy said on Fox News: "We have fertility rates that are just spiraling. A teenager today, an American teenager, has less testosterone than a 68-year-old man. Sperm counts are down 50%." Experts debunked this particular claim, according to an NBC News report. An analysis by The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and politics, found that while evidence shows sperm counts are lower than decades ago, it is not clear that factor influences the declining birth rate in the United States. For further reading, Snopes has looked into numerous quotes rightly or wrongly attributed to Kennedy. Sources Kasprak, Alex. "How RFK Jr. Exploited a Bogus Study Linking Vaccines to Chronic Illness." Snopes, 27 Feb. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/02/27/rfk-vaccines-control-group/. Accessed 16 July 2026.Miller, Dan, and Jeanne Zornes. Living, Laughing, and Loving Life! With Internet Archive, Mukilteo, Wash. : WinePress Pub., 1997. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/livinglaughinglo00mill. Accessed 16 July 2026.Padilla, Mariel, and Jennifer Gerson. " Why Is RFK Jr. so Worried about Sperm Count? ." The 19th, 13 May 2026, https://19thnews.org/2026/05/rfk-jr-sperm-count-fertility/. Accessed 16 July 2026."RFK Jr.'s Warnings about Sperm Counts Fuel Doomsday Claims about Male Fertility." NBC News, 3 July 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mens-health/rfk-jrs-warnings-sperm-counts-fuel-doomsday-claims-male-fertility-rcna216062. Accessed 16 July 2026."Robert F. Kennedy Sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary." C-SPAN, 13 Feb. 2025, https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/robert-f-kennedy-sworn-in-as-health-and-human-services-secretary/655791. Accessed 16 July 2026.Simanek, Donald E. Science Askew : A Light-Hearted Look at the Scientific World. With Internet Archive, Bristol, UK ; Philadelphia, PA : Institute of Physics Pub., 2002. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/scienceaskewligh0000sima. Accessed 16 July 2026.Wazer, Caroline. "14 Rumors about Trump's Health Secretary, RFK Jr." Snopes, 14 Apr. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//collections/rfk-jr-rumors-collection/. Accessed 16 July 2026. By Nur Ibrahim Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a reporter with experience working in television, international news coverage, fact checking, and creative writing. Article Tags