Russian Women Who Don’t Want Children To Be Sent To Psychologist

UNITED STATES, March 25 — Russia is set to refer women who do not want children to psychologists. The move comes under new health guidelines, which are designed to address the country's dwindling birth rate. Why It Matters Low birth rates aren’t a problem specific to Russia.

Population crises are a problem heard around the world, from America to China and Japan. At the start of 2025, the Trump administration passed a number of policies aimed at boosting birth rates. This included an executive order expanding access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and a Department of Transportation directive to give precedence to "communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.

" But people all over the world are plagued by uncertainty about having children, from financial concerns to climate change. And while some argue that low birth rates pose a problem, others contend that the problematization of low birth rates is an issue in and of itself, as one of the main causes of the decline is the rise in women’s right to choose. ...

What To Know In 2025, Russia’s birth rate hit a historic low , falling to levels not seen since the late 18th to early 19th century. For decades, Russia has been facing a plunging birth rate and population decline. The issue has been one of President Vladimir Putin’s main concerns over his 25-year rule.

And the problem has only worsened amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine , with high casualty rates and men fleeing the country to avoid being conscripted to fight. The birth rate is at a low of 1. 4 births per woman, significantly below the 2.

1 that demographers say is needed to maintain a stable population. The new guidelines from the health ministry will see reproductive health checks, where doctors will ask women how many children they would like to have. If a woman says she does not want children, she will be guided towards counselling with the goal of developing a positive attitude to motherhood.

The recommendations were approved in February but picked up by state media this week. This isn’t the only measure Moscow is using to try to tackle low birth rates. In recent years, abortion rules have been tightened, and bills have been passed to make what has been described as “child-free propaganda” illegal.

What People Are Saying Health Guidance, published by multiple outlets including the Kyiv Post, states that if the woman says she does not want children, “it is recommended to send the patient to a consultation with a medical psychologist with the goal of forming a positive attitude towards having children. ” What Happens Next There are estimates that Russia’s population will fall to about 132 million in the next two decades. The United Nations previously predicted that in a worst-case scenario, by the start of the next century, Russia's population could almost halve, down to 83 million, Newsweek previously reported .

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to help produce this story.