I don't recall any recent discussion on this topic, but there is one thing I've wondered about since I first viewed the series: What is the possibility that most of the individual citizens of the Federation have been sterilized, by one means or another?
We saw very few children throughout the entire run of the show, no matter where the LIBERATOR and the SCORPIO travelled...certainly far fewer than one sees today in any public environment. The Auronar were an isolated and 'alien' situation with a different policy, and there were other hints of isolated colony planets that had gone back to breeding their own, but for the most part, there were hints that the Federation was in control of the process. All we really ever heard about it was a vague reference to 'creches', and these appeared to be divided up into some sort of class system (or else the class of Alpha, Delta etc. was awarded afterward, based on some Federation standard).
Any ideas or thoughts on this?
Leah