Russia to offer free IVF to war widows and wives of disabled combat veterans
The State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, has passed a bill in its second and third, final readings that would add assisted reproductive technologies to the free medical care available to widows of combat participants and wives of disabled war veterans.
The bill amends Russia’s veterans law, according to the Russian state news agency TASS, and lawmakers passed it unanimously.
Once the law takes effect, wives of combat participants and disabled combat veterans — along with widows of war participants who have not remarried within five years of the service member being killed — will be able to access assisted reproductive technologies, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), free of charge.
The bill excludes surrogacy from coverage: only the IVF procedure itself will be provided free of charge, while the collection and cryopreservation of biological material will have to be paid for out of pocket.
The bill’s explanatory note said:
“Men often go off to defend the homeland while still very young, and many have not yet had the chance to become fathers. During a short leave, this is not always possible. And especially if a husband is killed, wives lose the opportunity to become mothers and have children with the men they loved.”
As a result, the explanatory note said, “the already difficult demographic situation” in Russia is worsening, and “IVF services are expensive.”
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