TV presenter Natalya Litovko announced she and her husband have to have a third child
A TV presenter is trying to get pregnant to increase childbirth rates in Russia in a scene straight out of a novel akin to Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.
Vladimir Putin’s demanded that women give birth to ‘seven, eight or more’ babiesto fix the ‘catastrophic demographic problems’, framing it as a patriotic duty.
After the dictator’s appeal in December 2023, now Natalya Litovko announced she and her husband are planning to have a third child.
The 43-year-old declared to Rossiya 24 viewers of her mission to increase the size of her family.
Her pledge served as a stark reminder of the blurred lines between Russian state control and individual autonomy.
‘Speaking of the [new] national project – Family,’ announced a smiling Litovka. ‘My husband has just messaged me to say we’re going to have a third child.’
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Her co-presenter – evidently taken aback – responded: ‘Well, we will tell you about that later.’
Putin has obsessed for sometime over the falling birth rate, and does not miss an opportunity to call on women to have more babies.
Recently, the president lectured workers in a missile plant on the urgency to have more than two children.
He said today: ‘Constant work aimed at improving the quality of life for families with children and supporting the birth rate is needed.
‘It is our religion and our moral values which are to the fore here.
‘Big families must become the norm. In the next six years, we have to achieve a sustainable birth rate.’
Putin announced state cash would be poured into regions with a low birth rate to improve incentives to have more children.
Refusing to open up about the number of heirs he has, the leader added: ‘Russia has been and remains a stronghold of traditional values on which human civilisation is built.
‘Our choice is shared by the majority of people in the world, including millions of citizens of Western countries.’
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