As Russia targets abortion and ‘childfree propaganda’ to raise birth rates, ‘Pregnant at 16’ reality show rebrands to make motherhood more appealing
On October 17, the Russian State Duma approved the first reading of a bill that would make so-called “childfree propaganda” punishable by a fine of up to five million rubles. The initiative comes amid the Russian authorities’ ongoing push to increase the country’s birth rate by pressuring women to have more children, a campaign that includes stigmatizing and restricting access to abortion, introducing “family values” courses in schools, and encouraging childbirth in popular media. One example of this last effort is the reality show Mom at 16, previously called Pregnant at 16. Meduza has translated an excerpt of Mediazona’s reporting on how the series is being used to further the government’s pro-natalist aims.
“At first we used protection, but then we stopped — we decided, screw it,” says Anya, a 17-year-old from the Far Eastern city of Amursk. Anya’s story is the focus of an episode of Mom at 16, a reality show on the Russian TV channel Yu that profiles teenage girls navigating unplanned pregnancies with their boyfriends, who are generally older than them.
The show’s narrator explains in a voiceover that Anya lost both parents at a young age, after which she was raised by her older sister. Early in the episode, viewers meet Anya’s boyfriend Semyon, an 18-year-old welder-in-training with a buzz cut and a spider web tattoo. Anya recounts how their first date was in an apartment building entryway, while their first time sleeping together was “At Semyon’s grandmother’s place.”
Over the hour-long episode, Anya faces a host of challenges, including the discovery that Semyon is inclined to “disappear and party” — though she quickly forgives him and decides he’s just “learning to be a father.” By the end of the episode, the couple welcomes a daughter, Yesenia, and Anya encourages other young women in her situation to “keep the baby and not be afraid.”
Another episode profiles Kristina, a 17-year-old from the Siberian city of Tyumen, who gets pregnant from her 19-year-old boyfriend Sasha. “He’s a musician, he writes raps — and I think that’s so cool,” she says at the start of the show. By the end of the nearly 1.5-hour episode, however, we learn that Sasha left Kristina for his ex-girlfriend while Kristina was still pregnant with their daughter.
“A child brings happiness, no matter what,” Kristina says at the end of the episode. “They’ll never leave you; to them, you’re number one. All that talk of ‘you’ll be left alone with a child’ — that’s nonsense. You’re never alone with your child.”
Until this year, Mom at 16 was titled Pregnant at 16; in January, however, it was rebranded with no explanation. Each episode now starts with the girls saying “I’m expecting a child” rather than “I’m pregnant.”
“Yu is a reality show network about the most important things for a young woman: family, children, mothers-in-law, moms, friends, and, of course, love,” the channel’s website reads. The site defines the network’s target audience as women aged 14–44, and its other shows have titles such as Supermom, Maternity Ward Days, Call Me Mom, and Mom at 45.
Many Mom at 16 viewers note in the YouTube comments that in contrast to past seasons, the girls on the show now appear never to even consider getting an abortion. Fans have also begun complaining about the show’s repetitive, contrived storylines: in a typical episode, the young mother feels uncertainty and fear, but then she talks with her loved ones and sees their enthusiastic support. There’s almost always a happy ending.
“Before, Pregnant at 16 was like, ‘Think hard — pregnancy is a big responsibility.’ Now, Mom at 16 is like, ‘Have kids as soon as possible,’” one commenter wrote.
The change from Pregnant at 16 to Mom at 16 has come against the backdrop of the Russian authorities’ ongoing efforts to encourage childbirth by curtailing access to abortion, outlawing abortion “propaganda” in some regions, and advancing national legislation to ban the “childfree” movement.
According to experts who spoke to the outlet Holod, however, if Russian policymakers want to effectively address the country’s falling birth rate, they should focus on ending the war in Ukraine, promoting immigration, and reducing economic inequality.