The Handmaids Tale

Another aspect of the novel that I found interesting was the loss of fertility in the women. It was interesting, because while they explained that it was because of pollution and new strains of diseases it ultimately seemed as though the government strictly blamed the women for the lowering fertility rates. They blamed women for choosing not to have children, or changing themselves so that they could not reproduce. They never once blamed the men, in fact it says in the novel that it is forbidden for women to ever speak of or insinuate that a man might be infertile. It was only the womens fault when they could not reproduce.
Also while the different families were given handmaids to try to bear children for them, they did not use scentific reasoning to try to help them get pregnant, they used a religious ceremony that seemed even more counter-productive. Instead of relying on fertility testing of different times of the month, natural family planning evening they just put it in the hands of God and the ceremony. Which does not seem very practical if they really wanted children so badly. It is the same with claiming that men could not be infertile, only women. If they valued children and humanity so much then you would think that they would take a step back and use the science that they have to help themselves.