The French government plans to send all 29-year-old citizens a letter warning them about the challenges of infertility as the country grapples with the question of what to do about ongoing demographic decline.
Hundreds of thousands of French 29-year-olds are due to receive the letter containing “targeted, balanced and scientifically based information on sexual and reproductive health”, according to the Ministry of Health.
It is intended to help young people avoid the “‘if only I had known’ mentality”, the ministry said.
The letter comes as part of a broader effort to address infertility in France, which according to a 2022 government report affects over three million people.
The strategy, which was launched late last week, will see a public awareness campaign launched and a focus placed on fertility methods such as egg freezing.
Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said during the launch that the “challenges of infertility have been analyzed in all their aspects” to allow the “immediate launch of concrete and long-awaited measures”.
However, Ms Rist stressed that the measures are not intended to pressure people regarding their decision as to whether or not to have children.
“The role of politicians is not to dictate whether or not to have children; what we must avoid is continuing to hear ‘if only I had known’,” Le Parisien reported Ms Rist as saying.
The material promulgated as part of the plan will emphasise that fertility is a “shared responsibility” between men and women, the ministry said.
According to Le Parisien, another element of the strategy would see dozens of new egg-freezing centres opened across the country, enabling the operation of private companies in the area.
The letter is to be sent to 29-year-olds as that is the age at which the State begins funding egg-freezing for interested citizens, until the age of 37.
The infertility focus comes as the country grapples with ongoing demographic decline.
Last year, for the first time since the end of the Second World War, France saw more deaths than births.
The national statistics institute recorded 651,000 deaths and 645,000 births across France in 2025, while the fertility rate dropped to 1.56 – the lowest rate in over a century.
A fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman is required to maintain population levels.