Russia’s Pursuit of Repopulation: Abortion, Large Families, and Propaganda

Six months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, in August 2022, the Russian President Vladimir Putin revived the Soviet title of "Mother Heroine" for mothers with ten or more children. Originally the Soviet government had introduced this title as a part of its postwar pronatalist Family Law adopted in 1944. Putin has been committed to increasing fertility in Russia for over a decade and has gradually restricted women’s access to abortion. With this background in mind, it may not seem surprising that he added one more measure from the post-WWII pronatalist toolkit when the “special military operation” threatened to accelerate the decrease in Russia’s population. 

However, the revival of the Mother Heroine award signifies a slight, but important shift. In general, postsocialist pronatalism carefully adapted the pronatalist ideas from the Soviet period, embracing some elements, while rejecting others. One of the rejected measures was the postwar Soviet policy of “one-parent pronatalism,” which made the father’s role in childrearing optional. Instead, postsocialist pronatalism has promoted “two-parent pronatalism,” which encouraged fathers to play an essential role in childrearing. This position manifested in the 2008 introduction of the “Parental Glory” title rather than reviving “Motherhood Glory” or “Mother Heroine.” The 2022 revival of Mother Heroine was a shift away from this earlier decision. How should we interpret this shift? Through a comparative analysis of the 1944 pronatalist Family Law and Putin’s pronatalist measures, this talk attempts to identify both constant and shifting choices as well as forces that affect the politics of reproduction today. In addition to policymakers, the talk will address the roles of women, doctors, and the Russian Orthodox Church.