On February 24 of this year on the air of the first channel there was the program "Posner" with the deputy of the State Duma, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, Elena Mizulina.
Among other things, the member of the "Fair Russia" party stated the following (quote from the transcript): "And what are the children from a test-tube? Today it is quite clear, even our researchers, although we have begun to use reproductive technologies later, there are American scientists ... Do you know that the second generation, still only the second generation of the test-tube children, the number of infertility is increasing? This is the path to the degeneration".
From the transcript it is not completely clear what was honorable Elena Borisovna trying to convey to us, but judging by the quotes in the media, her words were understood as that there is a large number of infertile people among the "test-tube children", and ART is the path to the degeneration.
The situation is not very clear. The government spends enormous amount of money on the development of assisted reproductive technologies in the country. There are constantly opening new departments of ART in the state medical institutions. From this year IVF was included into the compulsory health insurance program, in order to make it available for all people suffering from infertility. I think that when making decisions about such expenditure of quite limited budgetary funds, the government was guided by the opinion of specialists highly knowledgeable in assisted reproductive technologies. By all the actions the government shows that it is confident that infertility treatment with ART methods is the right thing for the country. And here is such utterance, and not of just anyone, but of the Chairman of the State Duma Committee, and not just anywhere, but on the first channel during prime time ...
And that situation is even more incomprehensible, given the fact that no serious specialist in ART, neither in Russia, nor in the world is aware of the facts, which could confirm the correctness of the honorable deputy. In other hand, there are numerous examples that prove the opposite - for example, the first such Soviet "test-tube child" Lena Doncova that quite successfully conceived in the "old-fashioned way", carried and gave birth to a completely healthy daughter.
Of course, I understand - polemical fervor and all that ... But Elena Borisovna, you are still perceived primarily as a "government representative" and, therefore, people believe your words as the ultimate truth. Can you imagine how many people suffering from the disease of infertility and planning to resort to IVF, you have stirred up with your performance? I think that somehow one should be more careful...
