Without reference to the Heritage Foundation, I have two daughters receiving their doctorates next year. One will be 43 and has two children.

She and her husband have sacrificed, and we have provided substantial assistance. Her two children cost over $3000 monthly for childcare. And her program was a three- and a half-year program. Another child would have made pursuing her doctorate impossible rather than just difficult.

The other daughter is getting her MD next year. She will be 29. She is single and faces 4-5 years of residency and fellowship. She hopes to find time to meet the right person and have one or two children. She is considering "freezing" her eggs in case she doesn't meet anyone soon.

I am very proud of them, but there is no doubt the time and cost of advanced degrees really limits how many children women can have. It is their decision to make, but it is not without some regrets have spoken to them.

So, there is no doubt that more education translates to a low fertility rate. Whether that is good or bad at the societal level is difficult to say. But it is a fact.

Women have more choices than ever before and that is a good thing. However, for America to survive as a society and culture, we will need to find an alternative way to maintain our population. Not maintaining our population will have catastrophic results as Japan, Korea, and China are discovering. So, what is the answer?

We need immigration reform. Immigration reform should focus on two things. First, admitting immigrants who have the skills our society needs... some of those immigrants may be crop pickers and some may be PhDs... but with open borders, you are not getting a mix, you are getting an overwhelming number of people competing for a limited number of jobs that fit their skills and education. And that produces conflict and social unrest.

The second need is cultural. We don't want people with criminal histories, nor do we want people coming to this country for "economic" reason (yes, economic opportunity should be a benefit of immigrating to this country, but not the reason we choose someone to become citizen).

Western civilization with its core values centered on human rights, individual civil liberties. private property, capitalism, religious freedom, and the rule of law are the reason our country has thrived, having a plan to preserve those values in the face of intentional immigration is important. We think those values are common around the world... they are not.

Just as importantly, we need balance in our immigration numbers. That balance needs to consider gender, ethnicity, and in some instances religion. We don't want large ethnic or religious minorities choosing to live apart, but instead we want people choosing to be "Americans" and integrating with one another to become "one nation" not a hodge podge of identity groups at war with one another over wealth and power.

America more than most countries was built as an "immigrant" model. But our schools are beginning to fail us. At one time, they were designed to turn the children of immigrants into Americans... today, schools too often focus intentionally or unintentionally focus on group identity difference. When the issues of Israel and Palestine translate to the college campuses of Columbia, something is wrong.

We are at a crossroads. In creating access for women to become full participants in what our society can offer, we are going to experience population collapse unless we balance it with an immigration policy that works for America, not one designed to produce identity groups that will tear down America.