Contraception in the FSU

[BC]

Just FYI

Germany has a subsidiy system for kids many years now.  I think the current rate is about 150 EUR per child and 180 after the third.. monthly, regardless of income level. Payments continue until the age of 18 and even until 27 if still in school, military service etc.

[Bruno]

http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/1486.cfm

According to the Ministry of Health, 5 million to 6 million Russian couples are unable to have children.

[/url] 
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1992/59/59p15b.htm

Very interesting :

http://www.futureofrussia.org/

Finaly, maybe the main reason of several woman who marry western people is to have the chance to build a family where mother and child have good health condition, and the possibility to believe in a happy future... this remember me, two people who have post here the end of a happy marriage due to problem about child...

Maybe the best gift that a western man can give to a FSU woman is a child  ...

[andrewfi]

Actually Russian birthrates are increasing at the moment. This is a cyclical thing. Just do not make the mistake of thinking that the lack of kids is to do with poverty, it is not. If poverty was the factor, experience around the globe would indicate large families. IMHO, the opposite is the case. Small families tend to come about when society, in one form or another is able to look, effectively and humanely, after its old. Kids are a form of pension planning. In Soviet times, the old were looked after, generally speaking, quite well and thus large families just were not needed - although the government DID want larger families and encouraged them.

Since the end of the Soviet Union, and as economic condition HAVE improved for many women, the choice to postpone familiy has arisen and the average age of sexual maturity has gone down (thanks in part to contraception and also changing mores, but also the age of first pregnancy has increased significantly as women and couples choose to postpone children until they have attained the degree of material security they seek. The turn in the tide of fertility rates tends to support the hypothesis that people are now starting to feel ready to breed. The degree to which kids are being seen as old age pension, I do not know, but given economic progress and the tendency of humans to think short term, I doubt it.

Also, when you are thinking of importing your 'family loving' 'child wanting' bride, remember this:

In Russia, a family with two kids is a rarity and when they happen, they are often separated by many years. For a woman to come face to face with the progeny of several failed marriages, often not much younger than she is herself, it is something of a shock; a shock that can test her faith in her fantasised concept of American family and motherhood for herself!

I have a friend who is going through exactly this process herself, having inherited a family of four kids from two previous marriages by her new man, in addition to her own son!

[Bruno]

Germany has a subsidiy system for kids many years now.  I think the current rate is about 150 EUR per child and 180 after the third.. monthly, regardless of income level. Payments continue until the age of 18 and even until 27 if still in school, military service etc.

Around the same here in Belgium...

- Money for the birth :

First child : 1043.93 euro / Second and more : 785.43 euro

- Adoption : 1043.93 euro by child

- Children money ( base )

First child : 77.05 euro month / Second child : 142.58 euro month / 3 or more child  : 212.87 euro month...

So someone with 3 child receive : 432.5 euro month

All this is the basis... add 26.77 euro at 6 yo, 40.90 euro at 12 yo, 52.01 euro at 18 yo

And it is not all :

Family with 3 child receive some other advantage... by example, for buy a home, state can give the money with a morgage at 0%, free use of bus, 75% reduction on railroad, lower price for electric and phone, no minerval ( money for inscription ) at university.... and a lot of more thing...

But this have not change the Belgium birthrate.... only a more high immigration... foreign family with several child... and the second generation act like Belgium people, low birth rate...

[2tallbill]

I look at this topic a little like the obligation to properly inform and advise a budding teen of the 'birds and the bees.' Consider this as an International Dating 101 Topic - something for us all to learn from, and important to be informed about.

In the course of many years participating on boards such as this, I've read all sorts of accounts and experiences on the topic of contraception - some believable and some not.

Here is what I have found, from my own experiences and from talking with many others.

Abortion as a means of contraception. Unfortunately, there is some significant truth to this. In Soviet times, contraceptive tablets were not produced in the USSR and were expensive to import - whereas the labor of an abortionist cost little or nothing. Economics played a role in the practice of abortion being used as a form of birth control - sadly. There remains some legacy of that practice even today. I know of one young woman (less than 30) who is VERY attractive, has one son, and has had multiple abortions - probably into the double figures now. The practice still persists - though, hopefully, it has begun to abate with other measures available.

Birth control pills are now widely available in the FSU - though still produced elsewhere (Germany IIRC) and relatively expensive. It seems unusual to find women who are 'on the pill,' hence, WM should be aware of this. If you become involved with a woman, however, this is an option which is now readily available for you and your gal to consider.

IUD's. I have met several women who used IUD's - called a "spiral." I do now know the particulars or the efficacy of their devices - only that they seem more common than here in the US.

Diaphrams and Sponges. I have never spoken to a single person who has mentioned the use of diaphrams or sponges as forms of contraception. I assume they are available in the FSU, but are not widely used for some reason.

Contraceptive Creams and Gels. I recall there being a pretty common gel called FarmaTex which is widely available and commonly-used. Again, I would expect the efficacy to be relatively poor as compared to IUD's and the pill - but better than nothing.

Condoms. As in the pre-1950's America, condoms are probably the single most popular form of contraception - with the additional advantage that most will provide some protection against STD's. I have read many reports from men on the boards that a lot of women in the FSU prefer to NOT use condoms - but I think those reports are exaggerations. Remember that these women are generally quite highly-educated, and many are obviously quite concerned with their appearance and overall health. It would be out of character for them to break from that concern and be irresponsible with their health insofar as condom use is concerned.

Responsible Dating. Guys, you need to remember that these women are currently living in economic conditions that are far below what we men from western countries can even begin to appreciate. For a young couple in Ukraine today to afford having a single child, is like a luxury. They are privileged indeed. For a single woman with a child, life can be almost unbearable, and the future for that child is clearly quite bleak.

It would be totally irresponsible for men from the west to be travelling to the FSU and impregnating the women with giving no regard for the ongoing responsibilities of child-rearing.

At a minimum, you MUST give consideration to the possibilities of an unwanted pregnancy, and take steps to insure its avoidance. And that, of course, does not even consider the life-threatening issues of HIV/AIDS and other incurable STD's.
- Dan

I recommend bringing your own condoms. This way you know that not past the sell by date and that they are
your brand that you've used before. I have never heard a single objection when I pulled out my own condom,
in the FSU (or in the USA for that matter).