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An answer here states:

The mitzva of Pru Urvu covers only marrying someone believed to be fertile.

And one here:

"The mitzva per se of pru urvu means: "marry someone who is able to bear children, to the best of your knowledge, and go about normal married life."

I had thought that p'ru urvu simply meant having children - -a boy and a girl, or something like that. But apparently it actually [only] means getting married to somebody with childbearing potential.

  1. Does doing so fulfill the actual mitzvah of p'ru urvu? That is, if one marries someone presumably capable of having children, and then does not/can not have children, has one still fulfilled the mitzvah of p'ru urvu? (I know that a remarriage is no longer halachically required. But do we consider that he did fulfill p'ru urvu, or that he "couldn't"?)

    1b. If yes to the above: How long does he have to remain married to the woman (and/or live with her) during her presumed-fertile years in order to be yotzei the mitzvah? ("Until she has children" would be a very unsatisfying answer.)

  2. If one does not marry a woman presumed to be fertile, but has [a boy and a girl] anyway--i.e., with one's presumed-infertile wife, through relations with a non-Jewish woman or non-wife, or through sperm donation--has one fulfilled p'ru urvu? Would these four cases differ?

  3. In light of all the considerations above, is there a "cutoff" for p'ru urvu, insofar as it may become increasingly difficult with age to attract, marry, and get along with a younger woman -- and as communities have various standards about acceptable age difference?

Related: If a woman cannot have children, can she marry?

https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/22251/1516

SAH
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    This seems closable as Too Broad. – Double AA Sep 28 '17 at 00:59
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    @DoubleAA I don't think so. I could remove #3 if you like. But I really think it all fits together rather neatly. – SAH Sep 28 '17 at 01:00
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    It seems like you could greatly improve the question by simply asking whether there is a mitsvah of "pru urvu" and what the parameters of the mitsvah are. Once you know the definition of the mitsvah, your question ought to be answered. If it inst, you can always ask a new question about some detail. – mevaqesh Sep 28 '17 at 01:55
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    @mevaqesh I used to try to broaden my questions like that; over time I realized that I was never getting the answers that I actually sought. – SAH Sep 28 '17 at 03:13
  • Take a look at Sefer HaMitsvot of Rambam Assei 212, Yereim 413, Semag Assei 49, Semak 284, Hinnukh mitsvah 1, Sefer HaMitsvot of Rassag (Assei 69) with commentary of R. YF Perlow, Rambam Hilkhot Ishut (15:1). – mevaqesh Sep 28 '17 at 03:47
  • @mevaqesh Thanks. As I'm sure you could have predicted, I will need to rely on someone else to explain those sources to me.Unless you can link me to an English version, and even then... – SAH Sep 28 '17 at 03:56
  • @SAH I haven't looked through all of them, but they define the mitsvah which, basically seems to be the question. || Ishut 15:1, Hinnukh 1. – mevaqesh Sep 28 '17 at 04:05
  • @mevaqesh Thanks. Your Rambam got me to some Shulchan Aruch, which was a tiny bit helpful, but I still don't have the answers to my subquestions... – SAH Sep 28 '17 at 04:09
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    The Mitzvah is to have at least two children, at least one of whom is a boy (we pasken like Beis Hillel). But there’s only so much in his control - he can be intimate with his wife, but he can’t control what gender she gives birth to. The Mitzvah is to do whatever is in his control - but ultimately it’s up to Hashem whether he’s successful. – DonielF Jul 29 '18 at 16:55

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