A child was born in Rivne, whose conception occurred after the death of his military father (video)

Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine takes the lives of Ukrainian military men every day, who defend the country with weapons in their hands. For many families, this means not only the loss of a loved one, but also broken dreams about a joint future, children, family. However, even in these circumstances, some families resort to difficult, emotionally and medically difficult decisions and choose parenthood after a loss. A new ethical and practical reality is emerging in Ukraine: conception thanks to the preserved biological material of soldiers who died in battle. In May 2025, a child was born in Rivne, whose conception became possible thanks to the use of frozen sperm of the father who died in 2024. This is not a precedent in world medicine, but it is the first such case for the Rivne region and is deeply symbolic for the entire country.

Pregnancy after the death of a husband: a clinical decision that became personal

On May 20, 2025, a boy was born at the Rivne Regional Perinatal Center, who was named Yuriy after his father, military man Yuriy Hordiychuk. He died in Donetsk region on May 21, 2024. His death came after he had managed to preserve his biological material – for the sake of the future child he dreamed of with his wife Natalya. As told in the perinatal center, this is the first case in the Rivne region when a child was born as a result of artificial insemination after the death of the biological father.

According to obstetrician-gynecologist Viktor Lesyk, the couple’s story began long before the war. Natalya had problems with fertility: she underwent several operations, including laparoscopic separation of the joints and hysteroscopic removal of polyps. She turned to various clinics for help, and then to the Family Planning Center in Rivne.

Preserving Parenthood: A Decision Made Before War

For the first time, the idea of ​​sperm storage arose not after the death of the husband, but during joint treatment. The couple took family planning seriously, and Yuriy voluntarily submitted his biological material to the “Blahodar” reproductive medicine clinic. This was done even before his next rotation in the war zone. They planned to return to the IVF program in the coming weeks. However, in the spring of 2024, Natalia received a call with tragic news: Yuriy had died at the front.

“My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for over a year. We underwent examinations, took tests, and prepared for the program. In March, we went to the clinic together for the last time. He died in May.” Natalya Gordiychuk recalls.

After the death of her husband, she did not give up her plans to have a child. On the contrary, she promised herself to fulfill the promise she made to Yuri: to become the mother of his child.

A journey through medicine, loss and determination

The team of doctors was impressed not only by the clinical case, but also by the strength of the woman’s decision. Reproductive medicine doctor Iryna Tsaruk, who worked with Natalya, said that the situation was psychologically difficult for the entire team. “It was a story not only about medicine, but about responsibility. We knew that Yuriy insisted on participating in the program, and even after his death, there was no doubt that Natalya was acting according to his will. We did everything to help,” she says.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) was carried out with state funds. This became possible within the framework of the program that the clinic implements in cooperation with the Ministry of Health to support military families. Natalya was able to go through all the necessary stages: hormonal stimulation, egg retrieval, embryo transfer. Pregnancy came from the first attempt. A few months after the tragedy, she already knew: in May 2025, a child would appear.

This case became an important ethical signal for the medical system of Ukraine. The use of cryopreserved biomaterial of fallen soldiers is not only a technical, but also a legal, psychological, and social issue. As of May 2025, there is no clearly regulated mechanism of action in Ukraine in case the material remains after the death of a person, and there was no separate legal will. In the case of Natalie and Yuri, the situation was simplified by the fact that they had planned the IVF program during their lifetime and had written consent.

With every month of the war, such situations will become not an exception, but a reality. The military, aware of the risks, is increasingly asking reproductive medicine centers to preserve biomaterial — even without clear plans for the program. Often they do it on their own, without even informing their partner, or vice versa — together with their wife, they decide to preserve the chance of procreation, despite the uncertainty of the future.

The birth of a boy named Yuriy is not only a personal story of one woman who lost her husband and still decided to become a mother. This is a new dimension of war, in which the state, medicine, society are faced with the question: how to continue life where death has become an everyday reality? How to ensure that children born after the death of their father have legal recognition, state support, and social guarantees?

According to doctors, the child was born healthy, the mother is under medical supervision. This story was made public officially, with the permission of the mother, as exceptional – not for reasons of sensationalism, but in order to set an example for other military families who find themselves in a similar situation.