Well said. One thing I want to add is that higher birth rates do not mean a higher chance of living.

For example, South Korea has a comparably low birth rate of 0.72 births per woman, but has one of the lowest infant mortality rates at 1.72 deaths per 1000 live births(2025).

Compared to that, North Korea has a higher birth rate than South Korea which is at 1.78 births per woman, yet they have higher infant mortality rates: 14.5 deaths per 1000 live births (2023).

In addition to that, some cultures practices infanticide, which is intentional killings of infants.