ABSTRACT
The chapter suggests using human reproductive health as a metaphor for ecological health. Reproductive health, at least for humans, is unpredictable and somewhat variable. Reproduction is dynamic, and different individuals have very different expectations of it. Reproduction is complex and vulnerable to both internal as well as external change, physical and social order as well as natural and man-made events. Many of the events of primary importance in reproduction are concealed from us, and many of the activities associated with reproduction have other functions. Reproductive health and reproductive potential are difficult to assess and impossible to predict. In terms of male reproductive potential or male fecundity, we have no single objective evaluation that can predict reproductive potential. The agencies concerned with human reproductive health have made an observation: infertility or the involuntary lack of reproduction has increased. From a practical point of view, reproductive success is determined by our economy, religion, and interpersonal relationships.
