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With their future on the battlefront uncertain, many of Ukraine’s soldiers are choosing to freeze their sperm in a bid to guarantee children in the future. For VOA, Lesia Bakalets reports from Kyiv
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: UKRAINE SOLDIERS REPRODUCTIVE
HEADLINE: Ukrainian Soldiers Freezing Sperm Before Heading to Front Line
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 09/28/2023 at 1:15pm
BYLINE: Lesia Bakalets
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Kyiv
VIDEOGRAPHER: Yevhenii Shynkar
ASSIGNING EDITOR: LR
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, Reifenrath
PRODUCER:
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X_ RADIO_X
TRT: 2:30
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TV/R
UPDATE: FOR PRODUCTION WEDNESDAY))
((INTRO:))
[[With their future on the battlefront uncertain, many of Ukraine’s soldiers are choosing to freeze their sperm in a bid to guarantee children in the future. For VOA, Lesia Bakalets reports from Kyiv.]]
((NARRATION))
Alyona, who wishes to remain anonymous for her own safety and privacy, is married to a Ukrainian soldier fighting on the front line. Several months ago, while he was on a short vacation, the couple decided to freeze his sperm, using a process called cryopreservation.
[[RADIO VERSION: Alyona says her husband is even more enthusiastic about it than she is. She says he had a comrade who was killed on the front line who was only 27 years old, without a girlfriend or child — he left nothing behind. Alyona says that made her husband think about having a child regardless of the circumstances.]]
((Alyona, Wife of Ukrainian Soldier – UKR, FEMALE))
“My husband was even more into it than I was. He had a mate killed on the front who was only 27 years of age. He had neither a girlfriend nor a child. He left nothing behind. And for my husband, it was maybe an impulse that we must have a child despite any circumstances.”
((NARRATION))
The couple came to this private fertility clinic. As their doctor explains, the procedure is simple for men.
[[RADIO VERSION: Ksenia Khazhylenko is the medical director of the reproductive clinic in Kyiv.]]
[[She says that the process requires no special preparation, and the man just needs to come in and submit biomaterial. Then the clinic tests for infections before freezing it at a temperature of minus 196 degrees Celsius. She says the biomaterial can be storage for years.]]
((Dr. Ksenia Khazhylenko, Academician Hryshchenko Reproductive Clinic – UKR, FEMALE)) "The process does not require any special preparation – a man just needs to come in and submit biomaterial. Then, we test it for infections and freeze it. Temperature is minus 196 degrees Celsius. Biomaterial could be in storage for years".
((NARRATION))
Doctor Khazhylenko says that cryopreservation is essential for soldiers because the risk of infertility is high among veterans.
[[RADIO VERSION: Doctor Ksenia Khazhylenko says this could be due to frostbite, hypothermia, and injuries to the lower half of the body. She also notes that doctors cannot even guess how the mental stress will affect the men later.]]
((Dr. Ksenia Khazhylenko, Academician Hryshchenko Reproductive Clinic – UKR, FEMALE))
“This could be due to frostbite, hypothermia and injuries to the lower half of the body. And we don't even guess how the mental stress the guys are under will affect (them) later.”
((NARRATION))
Some private clinics in Ukraine offer free cryopreservation for military men.
[[RADIO VERSION: Dr. Khazhylenko says there is hardly a day when no military personnel are in the clinic.]]
((Dr. Ksenia Khazhylenko, Academician Hryshchenko Reproductive Clinic – UKR, FEMALE))
“We practically don't have days without military personnel in the clinic.”
((NARRATION))
Members of Ukraine’s parliament are pushing to make cryopreservation free for members of the military as part of a state program and have completed the draft legislation.
But lawyers like Lyudmila Kyrylenko argue the legislation falls short.
[[RADIO VERSION: She says there is no mechanism for implementing it practically. She questions how it will be funded, whether it will come from state or local funds. The big question, she says, is how much should be set aside in the budget and what the funding sources will be.]]
((Lyudmila Kyrylenko, Medical Lawyer – UKR, FEMALE))
“There is no mechanism for how it will happen in practical implementation. How will it be reimbursed from the state budget, local, or other funds? The main question in this draft law is how much to lay down in the budget and what the funding sources should be”.
((NARRATION))
Alyona is hoping to get pregnant. She has undergone tests and found the only way for her to do that was through assisted conception. Having her husband’s sperm frozen means she can start the process even while he’s on the front lines.
((Lesia Bakalets, VOA news, Kyiv))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateSeptember 28, 2023 13:34 EDT
BylineLesia Bakalets
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English, US Agency for Global Media
