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

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.

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Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Social Inclusion
Published
2025-09-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.10403
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Reproductive Health and Technologies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.70

Funders

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article

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

Diāna Kiščenko
1 citations
Social Inclusion
Reproductive Health and Technologies
1.70
article

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

Diāna Kiščenko
article en
1 citations

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.

Social InclusionVol. 13
Riga Stradiņš University (LV)
Latvijas Zinātnes Padome
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Reproductive Health and Technologies
1.70
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