Ukraine has set up a state-supported fertility preservation program allowing active-duty service members to freeze reproductive material before or during military service.
Under current Ukrainian legislation, sperm or egg cryopreservation for active service members is funded by the state.
The program covers the initial medical consultation, laboratory processing, and storage costs.
If a service member dies, the stored material is preserved free of charge for up to three years and may be used by a spouse or partner if prior written consent was provided. The initial version of the law required destruction of stored reproductive material upon the donor’s death. After public criticism, particularly following a case in which a widow was denied access to her late husband’s frozen sperm, amendments were adopted. Revised legizlation allows posthumous use with documented consent.
Fertility preservation services began being offered by private clinics in 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
In 2023, Ukraine’s parliament introduced legislation regulating the practice and allocating state funds to cover costs for military personnel.
Death is not the only danger — fertility can be compromised by combat injuries and sexual dysfunction induced by psychological trauma. On the female side, stress can cause menstrual disruption and delayed family planning.
As one can imagine, the program intersects with broader demographic concerns. According to fertility specialists in Kiev, the number of pregnant patients has fallen by approximately 50% since the start of the invasion.
The state-run Centre for Reproductive Medicine formally joined the military cryopreservation program in January 2026.
Less than 20 service members have enrolled since.
The facility stores reproductive material in liquid nitrogen tanks at temperatures of approximately −196°C.
In private Ukrainian fertility clinics, the market cost of sperm cryopreservation typically ranges between €300 and €500 (approximately 12,000–20,000 UAH) for collection and freezing, with annual storage fees of €100–€200 (4,000–8,000 UAH). These costs are waived for eligible military personnel.
Standard in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures typically cost between €2,500 and €4,000 (100,000–160,000 UAH) per cycle in Ukraine.
Before full state funding, some private fertility clinics (e.g., IVMED and others) offered free or discounted sperm-freezing for soldiers on their own initiative, often viewing it as support for military families and a response to demographic concerns, but these are clinic-level contributions rather than central sponsorship.
The 2025 Ukrainian state budget has allocatesd approximately $4.7 million to the implementation of this program.
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