Sweden’s PM puts IVF at centre of re-election bid amid record low birthrate

Sweden’s prime minister has promised to put IVF at the heart of his re-election campaign as he tries to win over female voters amid the country’s record low birthrate. Ulf Kristersson’s government recently increased the number of state-funded IVF attempts granted to aspiring first-time parents from three to six. Now he has said that if his party, the centre-right Moderates – whose minority-run coalition depends on the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats – hold on to power in September’s general election, they will also fund IVF for additional children. It comes after official statistics showed this year that, despite often being cited as one of the best countries in the world to have children, Sweden’s fertility rate sank to 1.42 last year, the lowest since 1749 when records started. “It is a level we have never had in Sweden,” Kristersson, who has three grownup children, said recently, speaking on his phone-in podcast. “And that got me thinking. It could be because lots of people don’t want to have children, but I am quite sure that it is also because quite a lot of people never get those children that they really would like to have.” While under the new law those trying to have their first child are eligible for six rounds of free IVF, additional children are not funded, with a single attempt costing about 50,000 kronor (about £3,975). …