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Many Ukrainian soldiers are freezing their sperm. This way, if they are injured or killed, they can still have children. In Ukraine, the birth rate has sharply declined after the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian clinics offer soldiers the opportunity to freeze their sperm. Even those injured in war can thus become fathers. But is it desirable to have children precisely during a war? A visit to a reproductive clinic.

The ICSI Clinic is another of the fertility clinics in Ukraine, and the clinic confirms that Ukrainian soldiers’ interest in the sperm freezing service has increased.

New legislation is making it easier for Ukrainian soldiers to have children beyond the grave, as more soldiers opt to freeze their sperm amid Russia’s invasion. NHK World’s Koyama Shoko explains.

Many reproductive clinics in Ukraine offer sperm freezing to soldiers free of charge. Dr. Oleksandr Darii explains to Stanislav that the so-called cryopreservation is not just intended for his death: “Injuries caused by explosions can be so severe that soldiers can no longer have children afterwards.”

“The generation of heroes must not disappear and we will make sure it does not happen,” Dr. Aleksandr Darii was accustomed to dealing with couples seeking a child through in vitro fertilization or surrogacy. “Of course, we have also brought many new Italians into the world, but with the war, everything has changed.”

Olena, 31, and Oleksii, 29, knew they wanted to become parents early on. However, their desire for children fell victim to the war in Ukraine – Oleksii was drafted. Then, the couple decided to freeze sperm.

Many Ukrainian soldiers go to the front – without knowing whether they will return home healthy or at all. Many young men have to leave their wives at home. But to ensure that they can still have children no matter what happens, more and more military personnel have recently been visiting fertility clinics. Steffen Schwarzkopf from Kyiv reports what’s behind it.