To think France's plan to write to every 29 year old reminding them to breed is patronising nonsense??

But France’s birth rate one of highest?

Key Trends in European Birth Rates (2023-2024)

• Lowest Rates: Italy, Spain, Malta, and Greece consistently report the lowest fertility rates in the EU, often struggling with rates below 1.3 children per woman.
• Declines in Nordic Countries: Finland reported its lowest rate since 1776 (1.25 in 2024), and Sweden's rate has dropped to 1.43.
• Highest Rates: France (1.64–1.79) and Romania (1.71–1.77) have recently reported the highest, though still below replacement, fertility rates in the EU.
• Overall Trend: Since 2003, all EU countries except Bulgaria have experienced a decrease in births.
• Impact of Immigration: In 2023, high-income countries like Germany and the UK faced reliance on immigration to sustain populations due to low native birth rates

How many women looking to explore fertility treatment would be sitting around waiting for a letter from the government? Rather few, I expect.

Its Eugenics by the back door and will be coming to the UK if Reform get anywhere near power.

Not in France but but before she married Prince Charles as he then was.

This.

There are some people who never wanted and will never want kids. This is not about them.

There are also a lot of women who wanted kids, but never had them, or had fewer than they would like, because they ran out of options or time.

How ridiculous and awful. It’s like Handmaid’s Tale!

There a few women who get pregnant at 42. Most women won't be able to. For most women, if they start trying at that age, they won't end up with a baby.

So.. we just die out within 4 generations then? All the countries that support feminism just disappear within a few hundred years, a few generations of women have equality and raised standard of lives and then we lose everything. The patriachal religions win because they are still standing, what was the point if there is no longevity.

Erm, yes you can have kids at 42. That's your choice and fertility wise it can work and career and finances wise it definitely does.

As @Designless says, the late Millennials /early Gen Zer’s who would receive this letter are quite capable of deciding whether they want future generations.

Factual information on infertility is fine, but older generations (I’m Gen X) can’t tell them what to do. If they don’t want younger people, that’s their decision.

Princess Diana was what? Forced to have a gynae exam in France? That's not very kind.

Ignoring the outraged spin on it, it's a letter informing women what free fertility treatment is available. I'm sure a lot of infertile women will be grateful to receive it. But don't let facts get in the way.

Well I read today that the Reform candidate for Denton wants to tax women who don't have children. I wish these right-wingers would just fuck off trying to control women's bodies.

France does a lot to financially incentivise people to have children- tax reductions, birth grants, monthly allowance, free childcare from age 3 etc. Plus housing is significantly cheaper there than here (outside of Paris). They also haven't privatised public services so electricity, rail travel etc is cheaper than the UK.

Honestly part of my job involves fertility treatment and the amount of people at late 30s who thought they would be okay because their nan/mum/mate got pregnant at 45 is worrying.

I ammfeench amd inread le monde wveryday and i havent seen that. Inthink it is 100% bulls

give me a link from a french trustworhty newspaper.

nice try

I understand Princess Diana was.

It because some countries have such a dwindling birth rate they will cease to be functional societies, as not enough babies being born, not enough people working compared to retired people. Not enough tax money coming in to run services. Japan have said that if it carries on how it is over there they maybe have 50 or so years left. They need migration to keep the country going, but Japan (as a generalisation) are quite resistant to migration

@Happyjoe Yes, the real issue is that we’re all hanging around for decades longer than we used to, thanks to modern medicine and improved living conditions.

A lot do want this but the men they know want to carry on care-free.

Time after time you hear about the ‘ticking clock’. That seems very loud around this age.

@Happyjoe exactly, the problem will never end if you just keep encouraging people to have children. The world doesn't need anymore mouths to feed! A couple less billion people on the planet through fewer births would be wonderful.

I get that we need babies for the economy for the rest of us oldies, but when does it ever end? It just passes the problem down another generation or two.. There's enough people on this planet, we already ruining huge swathes of it. If people don't want or can't afford children, leave them be.

Agree 100%. If you can't afford housing by 29, it may be too late for some to 'breed'.

Seems like a good idea to me. At 29, I wanted kids in the future but was. Holding my career. At 36 and years of trying, I wish I had my 29 year old eggs available as an option to me.

Presumably if at 29 I’d known I didn’t want kids, I would have thrown the letter away along with the takeaway menus I get that don’t cater to my vegetarian diet. I’m not offended by them, they’re just not relevant to me so I pay them no heed.