Who Deserves to Reproduce? Latvian State Support for Infertility and Moral Considerations

Diāna Kiščenko
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Diāna Kiščenko: Faculty of Social Sciences, Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia

Social Inclusion, 2025, vol. 13

Abstract: This article examines how access to state‐funded infertility treatment in Latvia is regulated and morally framed. The analysis draws on state regulatory documents concerning sexual and reproductive health in Latvia, as well as six semi‐structured interviews with Latvian politicians and reproductive health specialists. The findings reveal that eligibility for treatment is not based solely on biomedical criteria but is also shaped by normative assumptions about gender roles and moral worth. A dominant heteronormative framework positions women as central to reproduction, while men are often marginalised or excluded from state support. Furthermore, infertility treatment is described as a form of economic investment by the state, with an implicit expectation of demographic return. Importantly, reproductive health specialists and politicians do not present reproduction as a neutral or purely biological process, but rather frame it in moral terms, suggesting that there are specific, morally acceptable forms of reproduction.

Keywords: gender; heteronormativity; infertility; Latvia; morality; policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:10403

DOI: 10.17645/si.10403

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