Ukrainian doctors believe that there is great interest among soldiers in freezing their sperm or eggs. This way, if they are injured or killed, they can still have children. Although lawyers still see many legal obstacles to paternity after death.

Since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s birth rate has declined. People postpone expanding their families; Many young men have to go to the front and many women have fled abroad.

In order to give soldiers family opportunities, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law two years ago stipulating that the government pays for the storage of sperm and eggs. Soldiers who become infertile as a result of injuries still have a chance of having children.

This leads to crowding at the IVF clinic in Kiev, which specializes in IVF treatments. “At first no one knew it was possible,” says Dr. Alina Gorbenko. Now she regularly has soldiers.

But in November last year, Parliament changed the law. As a result, clinics now have to dispose of sperm cells when a soldier dies. Which led to horrific stories.

For example, there was a woman whose husband died at the front on New Year’s Eve. He had his sperm frozen, but at the clinic the grieving widow was told she could not continue treatment because of the new law. She was advised to take the sperm cells to another clinic and hide the fact that they came from a deceased soldier.

“This makes me angry,” says lawyer Olena Babitsj. She grabbed her pen and wrote an emotional letter Facebook which received great acclaim. The rules have now been modified: Sperm is no longer destroyed when a soldier dies.

However, the soldier must state in advance in his will that it may be used. Merely preparing a documentary statement is no longer sufficient. Babitsj also disagrees; She believes there should be as little administrative burden on widows as possible. “Too many men are dying and they are the genes of our country.”

Sperm and egg freezing isn’t just for men and women going forward. War also has serious consequences on the fertility of those left behind, usually women. This can be reduced by stress, says Gorbenko, the IVF doctor. “That’s why we talk over and over again about the possibility of freezing eggs. It can be an investment in their future.”

Private Evgeny is one of the patients Gorbenko treats. During a short leave from the front, his sperm was frozen in the clinic.

He had previously promised his wife that he would return from the front in one piece, says his wife, Yaroslava. “But now he says: ‘I can’t promise that. Because I saw people being shot dead here in front of my eyes.'”

So Evgeniy and Yaroslava have to have uncomfortable conversations about the future and their possible desire to have children if Evgeniy is killed. “No matter how painful it may be, but that’s life. I hope it’s never necessary, but at least it’s there. I think my husband’s genes should be preserved, because he’s great.”

Ukraine is not the first country to freeze soldiers’ sperm and eggs before they go to the front. Russia is currently doing the same thing, and America already did it during the Iraq War in 2003.

Despite all the legal uncertainty surrounding freezing, Dr. Alina Gorbenko’s clinic has continued to do so in recent months. “Hopefully, this will be resolved later. It’s better than leaving empty-handed later and not being able to help people.”

Last month, Newsur reported on a maternity hospital in eastern Ukraine, the only place in the region where pregnant women can still go: