Jennifer Coburn's novel Cradles of the Reich largely takes place in Germany's first Lebensborn ("Fount of Life") home, Heim Hochland. Germany's economic hardship following its defeat in World War I was a key factor in the National Socialist Party (aka the Nazi Party) gaining control of the country in 1933. Led by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party had as one of its chief aims creating a country of genetically superior citizens. They determined that one of the barriers to their goal was Germany's declining birthrate; 1915–1933 saw 14 million fewer births than 1896–1914. The Nazis initially enacted policies in the hopes of turning the tide; for example, women with large families were publicly rewarded, abortions were strictly limited and women's occupational and educational opportunities were severely curtailed. These measures, however extreme, nevertheless had little impact on the birth rate.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler came up with the idea ...