1.   Educated women had lower fertility rates, and the children they did have were significantly healthier.

2.   The Decline in the general fertility rate was matched by a reduction in family size.

3.   Fertility rates have not yet begun to decline in sub-Saharan Africa, but the report notes that in many African countries demand for contraceptives often exceeds supply.

4.   Allison responds, simply, that the declining fertility rates mean that the international family planning community must be doing something right.

5.   And Mexican women, who traditionally have not worked outside the home, have entered the work force, which also contributes to the drop in national fertility rates.

6.   Another reason for dropping fertility rates is the growing pool of women who marry late or who feel no burning compulsion to marry.

7.   Another alternative is for Japan to try to boost its own fertility rates, by persuading women like Miki Fujii to have babies.

8.   -- Quality of life declines as a result of poverty and violence -- often linked to very high fertility rates -- in the so-called developing world.

9.   After the operation, women had significantly lower fertility rates and used in vitro fertilization more often, the study found.

10.   But fickle factors such as fertility rates and shifts in social mores have also played a significant role.