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The Austrian rules that make it hard for single women to have a baby

Austria has very strict and specific rules when it comes to medically assisted pregnancies, surrogacy and adoptions. In practice, they make it almost impossible for single women to have babies.

Mother and newborn baby
A mother holds her baby in her arms. Photo by Hollie Santos on Unsplash

The phenomenon is worldwide; as medical advances happen, more women who don’t have a partner but want to have a child or children are able to fulfil that dream. If they have the means to do it, many go through the path of pregnancy via IVF or search for a child in the adoption system.

However, both paths can be very different depending on which country you check. In the UK and the US, for example, a single woman can find a sperm donor and get pregnant fairly quickly – in the UK, the process is covered by the NHS even. Adoption is a more bureaucratic process, but theoretically, it is an option for single women who want to have babies.

In Austria, though, things are much different. Traditionally, Austria has always been a very conservative country with strong Catholic roots, and a lot of emphasis is placed on nuclear families.

The IVF path in Austria

Austria has strict rules on medically assisted reproduction, something it defines as “medical methods used to induce pregnancy by means other than sexual intercourse”. It means that single people are not allowed to have medically assisted reproduction in Austria.

According to the government, assisted reproduction is only allowed if all other possible treatments to achieve a pregnancy through sexual intercourse have been unsuccessful if sexual intercourse to induce pregnancy is not reasonable, or if pregnancy is to be induced in one of two women living together.

READ ALSO: Four things you should know if you’re going to give birth in Austria

The law states that a person can remove and store semen and eggs even if they are not in a marriage, registered partnership or cohabitation, but that “the subsequent performance of medically assisted reproduction (…) requires, among other things, the existence of a valid marriage, registered partnership or cohabitation”.

It’s not only single women who are denied (biological) motherhood. Gay men also cannot have biological children, as surrogacy is prohibited in Austria. 

Other rules also make the process more bureaucratic, even for couples. For example, in principle, only the eggs and sperm of the partners may be used for medically assisted reproduction. 

The semen of a third person can only be used if the partner is not capable of reproduction or if the procedure is carried out in a same-sex partnership. Eggs of a third person can only be used if those of the person to become pregnant aren’t viable for medical reasons. Additionally, the egg recipient must be under 45 years old at the time of the start of the treatment.

Additionally, egg donors need to be between 18 and 30 years old. Semen can be donated by men over 18 years old, but there is no age limit.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What you need to know about parental leave in Austria

What about adoption?

Adoption is a complicated process in almost every country – it is a difficult balance between trying to unite children to loving parents as early as possible and making sure that children in the system go to good and thoroughly vetted families. 

In Austria, single women can “in principle” adopt alone. Still, local media has shown how hard it can be, especially since there is great interest in adoption and long waiting lines. 

In practice, married couples are given preference when selecting suitable parents for an adoptive child, as Helena Planicka, Managing Director of the association “Eltern für Kinder Österreich” (“Parents for Children Austria”), told Austrian media.

READ ALSO: Austria declares ban on gay adoption illegal

Additionally, while federal requirements state adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old but set no maximum age, some state agencies do or add general statements such as ” care is taken to ensure that the age of the adopter corresponds to a natural parent-child relationship”. In the Graz area, adoptive parents must not be over the age of 46, as the CIty’s Department for Family and Youth told Der Standard

For single women, the barriers, particularly in a country with many couples seeking to adopt children, could be just too high.

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How could Austria make paternity leave more attractive for fathers?

Austrian parents can split their parental leave, but most fathers don't take time to stay at home to care for their children. Why is that, and what could be done to help more dads to take leave?

How could Austria make paternity leave more attractive for fathers?

The number of dads in Austria receiving childcare allowance, meaning they were taking a break from work to care for their children, had been continuously rising until 2017, when 15,095 men took advantage of their parental leave rights.

Since then however, the share of fathers receiving the parental benefit has decreased from 20.5 percent to 16.7 percent, according to the latest Chamber of Labour (AK) research

Can the drop be explained?

“The pandemic has revived the old role patterns,” believes Eva-Maria Burger, Head of the Women and Families Department at the AK.

For example during the pandemic it was predominantly women who stayed home to look after children when kindergartens and schools closed.

In 82 percent of couples in Austria, only the woman takes parental leave, and the father does not use his right to parental leave or childcare allowance. Those fathers who do take parental leave also predominantly only take two months. Fathers taking longer periods of paternity leave are still the great exception, the report showed.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about parental leave in Austria

But even before the pandemic led to fewer men taking parental leave, the Chamber of Labour believes that the introduction of the “family time bonus”, a payment given to fathers who take the month off immediately after the birth of a child, was also affecting fathers. They believe the fact that dads started taking one month off early on led to them not taking any further childcare later.

Especially given that companies often pressured men not to take any leave at all, the AK claimed.

“Fathers want modern parenthood. However, companies rarely allow men to combine family and career. Companies are only family-friendly if they are father- and mother-friendly”, said Burger.

The AK brought to light several instances of companies pressuring or punishing fathers who took time to be with their families.

In one case, an employee who always performs impeccably at work, winning awards, announced he would take one month off (the Papamonat). He was then later and suddenly accused of “poor performance”. These examples highlight the challenges fathers face in balancing work and family responsibilities and the need for a more supportive work environment.

What can be done about this?

The AK presented a six-point plan to increase men’s participation in parental leave, aiming to reach closer to the “half-half” mark of partners equally dividing their rights to childcare leave.

Firstly, the chamber called on the government to increase awareness of people’s rights, conducting a true information campaign about the right to split leave and the financial incentives to do so. Companies should also have to give advice and help manage parental leave for men once a pregnancy or Papamonat is announced.

READ ALSO: The tax benefits that parents and families receive in Austria

Additionally, the chamber advocates a higher “minimum share” for fathers, meaning fathers would legally have to spend more time at home for the couple to be entitled to the full two years of parental leave. Currently, if parents want to stay in the so-called Karenz for the entire 24 months they are entitled to, one of the parents needs to stay for at least two months on leave.

The incentive for more paternal leave could also be financially increased by doubling the partnership bonus – so parents who split at least 60:40 would receive €2,000. Also, the AK suggests rewarding those who can split parental leave equally with their partners by supplementing the childcare allowance by €350 per month per parent.

Why is it important to split parental leave more equally?

The chamber’s research highlights the importance of a more equal division in parental leave, showing that it dramatically improves women’s chances of returning to work. 

“In the long term, it pays off for everyone,” said the AK head of Women And Family Eva-Maria Burger: “For the whole family, it is safer to rely on two full incomes. For the economy and the welfare state, more women will be in the workforce, and for the individual companies, they can retain employees better if they allow men to be family men and workers.”

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