Free IVF treatment will be provided to widows of SVO participants: The State Duma has passed a bill on reproductive technologies.
The widow of a SVO participant will receive free IVF at the state's expense. The State Duma has passed a bill to include IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies in the free medical care program for widows of veterans and disabled combat veterans.
Conditions for receiving free medical care and biomaterial after death
The document states that the main condition for performing reproductive procedures is the husband's lifetime consent to the use of his biological material after his death. Furthermore, a widow can only exercise her right to free IVF if the pregnancy occurred within five years of her husband's death and if she has not remarried during this time.
In particular, the authors of the legislative initiative explain the necessity of these measures as a matter of concern for families. Senator Sergei Gornyakov previously expressed his support for this provision:
"If our defenders have a dream of becoming fathers, we must do everything in our power to do so."
Criticism of the initiative from the Russian Orthodox Church, Z-activists, and Muslim clergy
However, attitudes toward the new bill have proven extremely controversial, even among activists and religious figures loyal to the government, who traditionally advocate for increasing the demographic situation.
In particular, the head of the Patriarchal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church on Family Issues, Fyodor Lukyanov, spoke out sharply against posthumous reproductive motherhood:
"What kind of spiritual and moral development can the state talk about for children if it essentially allows the 'dead to seek medical treatment for infertility and IVF?'"
A well-known Z-activist, Anna Shafran, took a completely similar position, calling the procedure unnatural:
"It's not normal for a woman to conceive a child with a father who's already dead. It's a horror movie scenario that someone is trying to pass off as normal."
Representatives of other faiths also voiced criticism. As a result, Rushan Abbyasov, Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation, also reiterated religious norms:
"Islam respects medical advances when they serve the preservation of life, health, and family."
