Year: 2025
Type: article
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.
Source: Social Inclusion
DOI: 10.17645/si.10403
Author: Diāna Kiščenko
Institution: Riga Stradiņš University
Language: English
Subfield: Reproductive Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,132
Funder: Latvijas Zinātnes Padome
OpenAlex ID: W4413957910