During his press conference on Tuesday evening, Emmanuel Macron called for a “demographic rearmament”, in particular via a “major plan” against infertility and a new “birth leave”.
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“Guilting or forcing anyone to have a child would be the worst possible solution”says journalist Estelle Dautry, co-author of Infertile generation? : from distress to business, investigation into a taboo, published by Autre, Wednesday January 17 on franceinfo. She was reacting to Emmanuel Macron’s announcements, Tuesday during his press conference, to revive the birth rate in France and fight against the scourge of infertility.
“What should be put in place and what was proposed in the report which was submitted to the government almost two years ago was to set up prevention consultations”, explains Estelle Dautry. She cites, for example, consultations “to assess fertility at age 30” so that those “who are considering or wondering if one day they would want a child” can “to have the possibility and to have all the cards in hand”. This would allow people who wish to do so to anticipate the freezing of their eggs or sperm.
The mental burden of fertility falls heavily on women
The journalist recognizes that “the economic, social and environmental context does not necessarily make us want to reproduce” and that there is “an injunction which is made on women, much more than on men”. “It is generally in heterosexual couples, women who take charge of these issues”adds Estelle Dautry. “Men have very little culture of going to see an andrologist or worrying about their fertility themselves.“, she explains.
“We must give women the opportunity to do what they want to do”, estimates Estelle Dautry. For those who “want to have a career and have children”the journalist asks for means like “real maternity leave, real parental leave, real help in the workplace”.
