According to MedRussia, an independent healthcare media project, the Russian Ministry of Health has instructed gynecologists nationwide to identify patients who do not want children.
Under new guidelines from the Russian ministry, women aged 18 to 49 who say they do not wish to have children will now be referred for psychological counseling aimed at fostering «positive attitudes» toward motherhood.
Researchers will identify these women through a 61-question survey. Notably, men who do not wish to have children will not be referred to any specialist.
Read also: Russia to officially treat fetishism and exhibitionism under new guidelines
According to reproductive health specialist Kirill Dvortsov, although the idea may be sound, implementing it in practice is problematic. The expert believes psychologists should remain neutral during such consultations rather than impose their views on women.
«The psychologist’s job is to listen to the person, as the latter is the one who must make a decision. This creates a fundamental conflict with the government’s objectives. It is impossible to remain neutral when you have a direct mandate to ensure that a person gives birth,» Dvortsov emphasized.
The expert warns that pressuring women could backfire. Motherhood cannot be imposed on those who lack a partner or whose marriage is falling apart, for instance. As a result, patients may start lying during appointments or stop visiting gynecologists altogether to avoid these mandatory conversations, the expert added.
Kazakhstan is also reporting contradictory demographic trends. Despite a consistently high birth rate — with more than 227,000 babies born in the first three quarters of the year — overall population growth remained modest at 0.58%. At the same time, statistics for 11 regions show not growth but an actual decline in population.