A growing body of research suggests that men engage in infidelity as a ritualistic response to fatherhood.

The latest study, titled, Fatherhood Is Associated with Increased Infidelity and Moderates the Link between Relationship Satisfaction and Infidelity finds that fatherhood is so predictive of infidelity that it moderated the association between relationship satisfaction and infidelity insofar that only in non-fathers reduced relationship satisfaction was associated with infidelity.

Fathers cheat at a rate of 30.7% vs. 17.2% for non-fathers in relationships.

Multiple studies find that, "Certain developmental stages in a marriage, including pregnancy and the months following the birth of a child, are also high risk times for infidelity among males (Allen & Baucom, 2001; Brown, 1991; Whisman et al., 2007)." https://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/01/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-infidelity/

A survey of more than 5,000 cheating men (on an infidelity dating site) reveals that 78 per cent of the respondents are in their first marriage, and that 82 per cent of them began to be unfaithful after having children: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2615991/amp/Got-kids-Youre-likely-cheat-Having-children-main-reason-commit-adultery-82-cent-male-cheaters.html

11% of childless couples have cheated vs. 18% of couples with kids: https://www.nypost.com/2014/07/16/couples-with-children-more-likely-to-commit-adultery/amp/

Studies suggest that women who are currently-married have a TFR of roughly 4, while divorced women have a TFR of roughly 2.3 (and never-married women have a TFR of 1). Being married and not divorced is highly predictive of replacement-level fertility: https://ifstudies.org/blog/no-ring-no-baby

Infidelity is highly predictive of divorce, with 40% of people who cheated in their marriages subsequently becoming divorced compared to only 17% of people who did not cheat: https://ifstudies.org/ifs-admin/resources/cheating3new-w640.png

If a woman has a child with her partner and he responds by cheating on her, and the marriage collapses (either resulting in divorce or just lack of goodwill/dead bedrooms such that the couple remains in a hollow technically intact marriage for the kids' sake), chances are high that the woman will not be having more children with said man.

Is the epidemic of men cheating on their pregnant wives and the mothers of their children a primary reason for low birthrates, both by causing the collapse of trust within individual marriages, leading to fewer children being born, as well as causing a general collapse in female trust of men, causing fewer women to idealize marriage and making it a less attractive option, with women not particularly wanting to emulate the wives for whom it clearly hasn't worked out or made them happy to get married and pump out kids?

Discuss.