Sawt Falasteen - Russian women decry plans to therapise them into having children

The health ministry approved new guidelines in February recommending that health professionals send women who do not want children to a psychotherapist with the aim of "fostering a positive attitude toward motherhood".

But women who spoke to AFP said the plan would not work. They asked to be referred only by their first names for this story.

"I don't see myself as a mother and I don't see any reasons why having children would make me happier," said Maria, a 25-year-old IT specialist.

"I might change my point of view. But the state is doing everything possible to make sure that doesn't happen," she added.

Russia is in the midst of a demographic crisis, with fertility rates at 1.4 children per woman, far below the 2.1 threshold that demographers say is needed to keep the population at its current level.

The deployment of hundreds of thousands of young men to the battlefield in Ukraine over the last four years has only aggravated the problem.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned his country could face "veritable extinction" if low birth rates persist.

But Maria said the government's efforts to pull Russia out of its demographic rut were "pathetic".

"Tightening the screws, making safe abortions inaccessible, brainwashing people, bragging about supposedly huge benefit payments, sending them to a psychologist. It's cruel and completely ineffective," she said.

"Everyone understands what women really want: social guarantees, an adequate income, the ability to afford housing, and, most importantly, tranquillity and security," she said.

- 'Lack of fatherhood culture' -

In addition to the new advice on sending women to psychotherapists, Russian lawmakers have banned so-called "child-free propaganda", outlawing conversations in the media about choosing not to have children.

Those who flout the ban face a fine of up to 400,000 rubles ($5,000).

Authorities have also tightened abortion laws in recent years, forcing private clinics in most regions to ban the procedure.

"First, you need to create conditions that make a woman actually want to have a child. Not pressure her in every possible way," said Anastasia, a 29-year-old child rehabilitation specialist.

Anastasia said she had "financial" reasons for not wanting a child.

"My salary is about 100,000 rubles (a month). I don't see how it's possible nowadays to save up for an apartment," she said.

Russia's ongoing military assault on Ukraine and the international sanctions it triggered have fuelled inflation, among other harmful effects.

Interest rates on mortgages have soared to as high as 20 percent.

But Anastasia also pointed to "the lack of a fatherhood culture".

In Russia, "few men are involved in raising children," she said.

After a divorce, "men leave, and the women are left alone with children in their arms."

Russia has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, according to various polls.

- 'Why force women?' -

Margarita, an English teacher who cannot have children for medical reasons, feared that the health ministry's initiative would "cause even more damage to women's psychological health, because they basically lump them in with outcasts".

Mothers interviewed by AFP also criticised the initiative.

"I believe that a woman has the right not to want to have children. Why give birth if you don't want to? Why force women to bear unwanted children?" said Irina, a 45-year-old doctor and mother of two.

The Russian men interviewed by AFP were less worried.

Maxim, 49, said the health ministry directive was only a recommendation.

Not choosing to have children? "That's unhealthy," he said.

N.Awad--SF-PST