France plans to send a letter to all 29-year-olds in the country encouraging them to have babies before it is ‘too late’.
Hundreds of thousands of young people will receive the letter, which aims to provide “targeted, balanced and scientifically based information on sexual and reproductive health” in order to “avoid the ‘if only I had known’ mentality”, the health ministry said.
But the measure, which is part of a 16-point plan to tackle a declining birth rate in France, has been criticised by those who say it will not have the desired effect.
Officials say infertility, the main issue driving the policy, affects one in eight couples in France.
The letter is being sent to 29-year-olds because women are able to have their eggs frozen at that age without a medical certificate. Women will also be reminded that social security in France covers the cost of freezing eggs for women between 29 and 37.
The letter will address biological clocks for both men and women. It will recognise that “the biological clocks are not the same but men have one too”.
Health minister Stephanie Rist said the “challenges of infertility have been analysed in all their aspects” to allow the “immediate launch of concrete and long-awaited measures”, according to Le Parisien.
Ms Rist has led the health ministry to refocus its efforts on infertility, after a government report commissioned in 2022 found that the issue affects 3.3 million French people.
She emphasised that the role of politicians is “not to dictate whether or not to have children”, but to educate women further on fertility and remind them of the option to freeze eggs.
But Marie-Estelle Dupont, a psychologist, told The Times that raising maternity leave from 16 weeks to 26 weeks would have more impact on birth rates.
Other parts of the plan include increasing the number of fertility preservation centres, which store frozen eggs, in France from 40 to 70. This could include allowing private enterprises to operate in this area.
Paul Brunstein-Compard, a 29-year-old standup comedian in Paris, said the idea is “a little bit treating them like children”. While he would like to have children, he is not in an economical situation to do so and also has environmental concerns.
“Procreation is creating one more human who is going to pollute and consume. It is a secondary reason for me, but I have friends who are clear they do not want children because of that,” he added.
If young people saw the future in France as “more respectful, less discriminatory and more joyful”, they might be more inclined to have children, he added.
