Ukrainian woman holds hope with the baby of a fallen soldier

DW (English)

As war rages, some Ukrainian couples turn to sperm freezing to preserve a bond in case the soldier can't return. Natalia, now a new mother, shares her story with DW after losing her husband at the front.

Transcript

00:01He still has the power to make her smile, even from beyond the grave.

00:07Natalia fell in love with Yuri after meeting him in a park near the city of Rivne.

00:17He was always laughing.

00:20I used to tell him, Yuri, where's the smile?

00:24Then I'd say, ah, there it is, he's smiling again.

00:30He was such a good man.

00:33I always used to say I'd never find another like him.

00:37And it turns out there really isn't anyone like him.

00:41They dated for a year.

00:43Everything was perfect, Natalia says.

00:46He kept coming to see me all year, always with flowers or gifts.

00:50One day he proposed, and I said yes.

00:54When Russia's full-scale invasion began, he left his car mechanic job and joined the army.

01:01He knew he'd be sent to the front line.

01:04So they married quickly, and ended up trying for a baby via artificial insemination.

01:10They also froze some sperm, just in case.

01:15Two weeks after Yuri reached the front line, Natalia told him she was pregnant.

01:21I sent him a text to tell him the news.

01:25He called me right away, crying.

01:27I said, why are you crying?

01:28He said, from joy.

01:30I told him congratulations, and he said congratulations to you too.

01:34Just two months later, she got the news she'd hoped would never come.

01:39Yuri had been killed on the front line, a sniper's bullet near Donetsk.

01:45I didn't believe that he died.

01:49I wouldn't believe it until I saw him.

01:51I screamed, I cried, I squealed.

01:54I said, that's not him.

01:57Then I lost the baby.

01:59Nine days after his death, I started bleeding heavily.

02:03After everything, I lost it.

02:04She says it was the hardest time of her life.

02:08But two months after losing Yuri and their unborn baby,

02:12she decided to use the sperm they had frozen earlier, and try again.

02:18I thought, why should I be alone?

02:22I won't be alone.

02:24I decided to do what my husband wanted.

02:26He really wanted to have a son.

02:28I took that second chance.

02:32I went through it all.

02:34And when I did, it felt like I was reborn.

02:39At a nearby fertility clinic, doctors gave her hope.

02:45And a number, a 60% chance of success.

02:48Natalia was the first woman in Ukraine to try for a baby with her dead husband's sperm.

02:56But her doctor at the fertility clinic is sure she won't be the last.

03:01Since the start of the full-scale war, the number of samples has gone up significantly.

03:08We now have around a hundred samples from military men who've preserved their biological material.

03:19A month ago, Natalia gave birth to her baby, with a close friend by her side.

03:25When he was born, the moment I saw Yuri in him, I felt such relief.

03:35It made me feel so good.

03:37It's like Yuri is still alive somewhere.

03:39The way he folds his hands when he sleeps, the way he smiles.

03:43That's Yuri's smile.

03:45And I believe I'll manage.

03:47Somehow I'll get through this.

03:49I'm strong.

03:50Still deep in grief and in the middle of a war, Natalia kept her promise.

04:00And brought new life into a world filled with loss.

04:04For her, Yuri didn't just leave a memory.

04:08He left a future.

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