Maksim has no problem talking about his sperm.
In fact, I wish more people in the Ukrainian military would talk about fertility, or at least think about it.
"Our men are dying. The Ukrainian gene pool is disappearing."
"This is a matter of our nation's survival," a soldier stationed somewhere near the eastern front line tells me over the phone.
The 35-year-old serves in the National Guard of Ukraine, and when he recently went on leave, his wife persuaded him to go to a clinic in Kiev and leave a sperm sample.
The sample was frozen free of charge, as part of a military assistance program.
If Maxim dies, his wife can use the sample and try to have the child they both always wanted.
But he says his frozen sperm could be key to starting a family anyway.
"Whether you're in the middle of the fighting, or 30 or even 80 kilometers in the rear, there's no guarantee that you're safe," says the soldier, explaining that Russian drones flying overhead pose a constant threat.
"That means stress, and that can have an impact - reproductive ability declines."
"That's why we need to think about the future and the future of our Ukrainian nation."
Cryopreservation
At the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022, private clinics performing in vitro fertilization began offering so-called cryopreservation (the process of freezing and storing biological material at extremely low temperatures) to male and female soldiers.
They could freeze their sperm or eggs for free, in case they were wounded in battle or their fertility was compromised.
The following year, the Ukrainian parliament regulated this issue to ensure state funding.
"Our soldiers defend our future, but they can lose their own, so we wanted to give them that opportunity," says MP Oksana Dmitrieva, who participated in drafting the law.
"It's to support them so they can use their sperm later."
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The original law caused public outrage because it required all samples to be destroyed after the donor's death.
This came to light when a war widow tried to have a child using her husband's frozen sperm, but was not allowed to.
The law has since been amended, so that now soldiers' samples are stored free of charge for up to three years after their death and are available to the partner with prior written consent.
The program also aims to address the demographic crisis that existed in Ukraine even before Russia's invasion, but was further exacerbated by the large number of men killed, many of whom were among the youngest and healthiest in the country.
Then there is the problem of millions of people, mostly women, who have left the country as refugees.
Even today, four years later, many are still abroad because life in Ukraine is not improving.
This was evident when I met with the MP in the hotel lobby, where we talked in coats, because due to relentless Russian missile attacks on the power grid, thousands of buildings in Kiev are frozen this winter.
"We also think about the future and all the young people we have lost."
"We have to make up for them," says Dmitrieva.
"This is a small step towards improving the demographic situation."
During visits to the front, the MP encourages soldiers to discuss their sex life and fertility problems, and to consider freezing their sperm.
"They're very uncomfortable at first, but we talk, so I tell them to tell others, and then they come and do it," she says.
"If they have this opportunity, why not?"
"It won't hurt!"
Sperm freezing program
The State Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kiev began accepting soldiers into its "sperm freezing" program in January.
So far, only about a dozen have signed up, but the clinic believes that will change as more soldiers learn about the program.
"We are expecting a big influx. We have high expectations," says clinic director Oksana Kholikova as she leads me to the laboratory where the biomaterial is collected, prepared, and stored.
Long, narrow tubes full of sperm are kept in large tanks.
Walking through the silent corridors reveals the hidden consequences of war - just one newborn in a crib and one woman giving birth.
Since the beginning of the war, the number of pregnant women coming to the clinic has been halved.
"If women are stressed, they can have problems with their periods."
"Everything is connected," Holikova points out.
"About 60 percent of my patients are on antidepressants, and among them are those who have panic attacks because of missiles and drones."
Others suffer from what she calls "delayed life syndrome" - postponing important life decisions, including having children.
"Women are afraid of getting pregnant if they have to run to shelters because of bombing."
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Court verdict
So, Ukraine needs every possible newborn.
But the law on assistance to soldiers' families does not always work smoothly.
Katerina Mališko and her husband Vitaly had been trying to have a baby for a long time.
She believes that their problem with her getting pregnant naturally was caused, or at least exacerbated, by the war.
"All that stress and sleepless nights," says Katerina.
"Every night is like a lottery, you don't know if you'll wake up in the morning."
The young couple would be celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary this year, perhaps with a baby.
Last winter, they had three fertilized eggs transferred to an IVF clinic and were scheduled to be returned to Katerina's uterus.
And then Vitaly died.
"It was a direct hit by a guided missile, he didn't stand a chance," she says.
Katerina speaks openly about her struggle to continue living without her husband.
Her pain became even more intense when the clinic told her that she had no right to use the frozen embryos or Vitali's sperm.
"They would keep it, but I couldn't use it," she says.
MP Oksana Dmitrieva intervened directly in some clinics to ensure treatment for the families of soldiers.
But he admits that the new law still needs to be "fine-tuned."
A vote on several amendments to the law is scheduled for the spring.
But Katerina, desperate and grief-stricken, had to go to court and only after six emotionally draining months did the judge finally rule in her favor.
"I read the verdict and I sat there and cried."
"Because that was our family."
"We've waited too long for this and we've been through so much," says Katerina.
"I felt joy and sadness at the same time because I had to fight for my rights."
"But I wanted to do it, to honor my husband."
Katerina is not yet ready to try to have a child, because she feels too fragile.
She also doesn't hope that the war will end soon, which would allow her to give birth in a peaceful country.
"If we compromise now, then what did so many people die for?"
This is how he reacts to the idea that Ukraine could give up the territories for which Vitaly died, in order for Russia to stop the invasion.
But Katerina wants the opportunity to have her husband's child when she's ready.
"I think the children of our fallen soldiers should have a chance to live, to have the right to live in the country for which their parents gave their lives."
Maksim, who is at the front and in constant danger, agrees with this.
"That's why I did it, and it's great," the soldier tells me over the phone.
"Because I might not be here tomorrow."
"But my wife will have my sperm and be able to use it."
"I couldn't care less about that."
Maksim believes that the biggest problem is how to persuade men to apply for the program.
Watch video: Young Ukrainian women feel 'broken and empty' because of war
The director of a clinic in Kiev, Oksana Kholikova, recalls a conversation with a war veteran who told her that soldiers come to him crying because they have problems with sexual relations with their partners or with conception.
"Men are closed, but there are many psychological problems," admits Maksim.
That's why he suggests that soldiers be told to freeze their sperm when mobilized, just as they provide DNA samples for identification in case they die.
"People are hesitant because we need to talk more about this and explain why it's important," the soldier concludes.
"Because we men won't do anything until you shove it in front of us and force us to."
Additional reporting: Tetijana Dankevich
Watch a video about Russian women going to Argentina to give birth
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