In February 2026, it was reported that Singapore's total fertility rate for 2025 had hit an all-time low of 0.87. A special taskforce, led by a Member of Parliament, was set up to look at how Singaporeans might be encouraged to have more children.
Of course, low fertility rates are not unique to Singapore. It is now a global phenomenon, especially in dense, fast-paced global cities.
Personally, motherhood has not come easily for me. My closest friends and family have all heard me talk about family and kinship, and they know that even though I am now a mum of two boys myself, I rarely encourage anyone towards parenthood unless they feel thoroughly ready for it from every angle: physically, emotionally and financially.
My elder son is now 6, and the younger one is 1. I truly feel I have a lot to share on this broad topic, but first, I want to share it through the lens of Human Design. Perhaps, after looking at your bodygraph, or your spouse's, or those of your "tribe" and support group, you will have a clearer sense of whether marriage and parenthood are indeed for you.
So yes, as all Manifestors already know, motherhood or no motherhood, our energy levels tend towards I AM A-L-W-A-Y-S A-L-W-A-Y-SSSS SSSSOOOOOO T-I-R-E-E-D-DD! Add the dynamics of handling mum duties, and one would seriously question why, with such pathetically low energy levels, Manifestors are even allowed to be mothers in the first place.
At the most basic level, there's the question of how to choose. Do we really agree with marriage as a social contract? Is he or she the right one?
Human Design's starting point is simple. Each of the five Types has its own way of making good decisions (its Strategy and Inner Authority), and its own sign that life is on track (its Signature). For a quick guide to the five Types, click here.
But today, this piece is not about Types. It is about Human Design circuitry. The 64 gates of the bodygraph form three distinct circuits: the Individual (the "I"), the Tribal (the "We") and the Collective (the "Everybody"). I love, love, love how the circuits make complete sense. I am so grateful to whatever hit Ra Uru Hu to bring us the whole concept of Human Design! And of course to my teacher, Katie Irvine of Sort Of Spiritual, who helped me understand circuitry so much better.
The "I" and the "We" energies are so often in a tug-of-war. How many times do we fight the relationships around us when this energy is at play? And how many times do we unknowingly fall into the traps of conditioning, wrapped up in our "logical" minds and letting the usual thoughts from the Ajna and Head Centers override our Authority when it comes to major life decisions? Understanding my circuitry, and taking the time to really live its energies, has made me much more comfortable BEING ME while I navigate the boundaries of my relationships and my duties as a daughter, wife and mother.
Here is a simplified table of the themes of each circuit:
| Circuit | Sub-circuit | Themes and directions | Channels | Gates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | Knowing (Empowering) | Mutation, acoustic frequency, uniqueness, and "knowing" without logic | 9 | 18 |
| Individual | Centering (Self-Empowerment) | Following one's own path; the energy of being oneself | 2 | 4 |
| Individual | Integration (Survival) | Pure self-preservation, intuition in the now, and individual life force | 4 | 4 |
| Tribal (Support) | Defense | Procreation, nurturing, and the survival of the genetic line | 2 | 4 |
| Tribal (Support) | Ego | Material survival, community bargains, and resource management | 5 | 10 |
| Collective (Sharing) | Logic | Patterns, future security, scepticism, and experimental proof | 7 | 14 |
| Collective (Sharing) | Abstract (Sensing) | Reflection, human experience, history, and emotional cycles | 7 | 14 |
Gates 10, 20, 34 and 57 belong to more than one Individual sub-circuit, so the gate column adds up to more than 64.
Only 4 of the 64 gates belong to the Defense circuit, the energy of procreation and nurturing. That sounds small, but each of us carries 26 activations in our chart, so these gates show up in many charts. None of this predicts whether you will or won't become a parent. What it shows is how you feel the pull towards it: as a steady drive, as something that rises and falls with the people around you, or as a question you get to answer for yourself. Maybe that's part of why children have always felt like precious gifts. Most of us were never meant to carry this energy alone.
All in all, the whole Tribal circuit is just 14 of the 64 gates. But a small number does not mean "the force" is weak. Its strength can't be measured by counting gates.
Tribal energy is an incredible strength. The drive to preserve and continue the tribe is primal, yet woven into the daily fabric of our lives. In its raw form, it is sacral, generated energy, involved in love, war, sex, intimacy, business and ambition. Think of it as the energy of "support," or the saying "it takes a village." Ultimately, it is the agreement within a tribe to share responsibility for the old, the young and anyone who needs care. It bargains over values, social agreements and contracts, all for the fierce protection of one's kin, through the management of material resources: time, food, energy and money. It is not interested in global patterns. It cares about the survival of the tribe, and it would even go to war to make sure there's enough "wood for the fire" to keep the tribe cared for and fed.
Of course, none of this means that without these gate activations parenthood won't happen for you, or that you shouldn't choose it. No! There will be transits, and there will be partners, spouses and mates who activate these gates and channels for you. Undefined energy does not mean no energy; in fact, the same energy can be amplified by the people around you. Your environment has a very strong impact on you, and you take in energy from it. But that is a topic for another day, when we look at the left- and right-facing arrows at the top of the bodygraph.
Behind the topic of marriage and parenthood, there are also people going through the heartbreak of miscarriage and repeated attempts to conceive, and people overcoming physical pain and constraints on their way to parenthood. Perhaps my simple motivation for sharing Human Design is this: less uncertainty and more clarity when navigating the tougher decisions that shape the long arc of a life. I also hope for less reliance on blind, unethical fortune-telling, or on feng shui masters who only say no.
Please also remember that Tribal energy applies to business and entrepreneurship too. We don't have to apply it narrowly to kinship and parenthood.
So why not use a more objective, contemplative and neutral lens to clarify the path for yourself? Consider Human Design, maybe?
Reference charts
The Defense Circuit (Tribal / Support): 2 channels, 6–59 Intimacy and 27–50 Preservation.
The Ego Circuit (Tribal / Support): 5 channels, 19–49 Synthesis, 21–45 Money, 26–44 Surrender, 32–54 Transformation and 37–40 Community.
P.S. Out of curiosity, I looked at Singapore's own chart as a nation. Zero gates in the Defense circuit! And yet Singaporeans are still having babies, which is exactly the point: undefined energy does not mean no energy.
If you're weighing this decision as a couple, or trying to understand a child who is wired very differently from you, that's what my couples and parent–child readings are for. Email me at info@thekinsurfers.com.