The Handmaid's Tale's Biggest Mystery Is Gilead's Birth Rates
These statistics must be completely fake.
The Handmaid's Tale has always been both terrifying and utterly compelling to viewers because of the realism of its dystopian setting. The story of Gilead and the system behind it is fictional, but it's far too easy to imagine the same level of reproductive violence coming to life in our reality.
While all viewers understand the horrors of The Handmaid's Tale's Gilead, some are also conditioned to believe in the miracles that such a system produces. The miracle of life is the most important one, according to Gilead's high birth rate, which the system is very proud of.
Upon closer inspection, however, the numbers Gilead provides don't make much sense. With a set of laws like Gilead has, society ends up being thrown back a few centuries, which goes for their medical care and all pregnancy and birth practices as well.
Being skeptical of modern medicine might help control the minds of Gilead's people to some extent, but it could never help with the actual diseases and complications that women face during pregnancy. The number of lost pregnancies, miscarriages, and stillbirths due to the lack of truly competent doctors would have overwhelmed the number of successful pregnancies.
Moreover, getting a woman pregnant is a struggle in itself in Gilead, where men's infertility is not even allowed to be acknowledged aloud. Instead of the government support that any other country would have, such as IVF procedures or sperm donations, Gilead relies solely on forced intimacy, which doesn't always lead to pregnancy.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't come as a complete shock to anyone that the number Fred and Serena are spreading is intentionally inflated to excuse Gilead's torturous methods. If that is the case, it would be especially satisfying to see that lie blow up in Serena's face, along with all the other evidence against her regime, in the upcoming season.
As of today, there is no official release date announced by Hulu for The Handmaid’s Tale season 6. Make sure to keep an eye out for all the important news and behind-the-scenes updates to be the first one to find it out.