Crouching in a trench on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, Olena felt the ovulation app on her phone buzz.
“I realized that I really needed to be at home making a baby, not sitting in this trench,” recalled Olena, a combat medic. But that wasn’t an immediate option, and her desire to start a family was as strong as her need to serve.
After about six months of trying — navigating appointments with fertility doctors around her limited leave — “it finally happened,” said Olena, who like other women interviewed for this article requested that only her first name be used for reasons of military protocol. She got pregnant, but continued to serve.
While some people might think fighting a war while pregnant is crazy, Olena said, she sees it “a bit differently.” She added, “War is war, but life goes on.”
Ukraine’s military is finding it hard to recruit young men as the war with Russia grinds on, but women — all volunteers — are a bright spot. The number of women serving has grown more than 20 percent to about 70,000 since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Those who become pregnant often serve in tough conditions under relentless shelling, living without heat in the winter, or running water and proper toilets.
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The post Expecting on the Front Lines: Motherhood in Ukraine’s Military appeared first on New York Times.
