why the government sends a letter to citizens of 29 years old

Albane recently celebrated her 29th birthday, surrounded by her friends. She will therefore be one of the French people who will receive, by the end of the summer, surprising government mail. Presented as an information message on fertility, this letter will recall the basic principles of sexual health and the biological limits linked to age, as well as existing medical means, such as egg freezing – 29 years being the age from which this practice becomes possible, excluding medical reasons.

This is the flagship measure of the plan against infertility announced on February 5 by the Ministry of Health. “I find this process stressful,” confides Albane, who does not yet have children. If the government starts writing to us, it’s because we’re really in a bad situation…” Not all 29-year-olds will appreciate this incentive to procreate by natural or artificial means. However, this is not the first time that the State has gotten involved in giving birth to babies.

An existential question

Demographic concern recurred after the defeat of 1870. France, the most populous country in Europe before the Napoleonic wars, was crushed by Germans who were now more fertile and more numerous. In a context of revenge, worry becomes existential. “The decline in our birth rate, the exhaustion of our energy for a hundred years” are the “seed of destruction” which explains the defeat against Prussia, summarized the nationalist writer Maurice Barrès. The First World War, which caused 1.4 million deaths and a collapse in births, transformed this concern into a political priority. In 1920, the creation of a medal for children and families marked a turning point.

The 1930s revived anxiety. On the threshold of war, faced with the 60 million Germans lined up behind Hitler, France had 41 million inhabitants. In 1939, the Family and Birth Rate Code appeared, “the first family and birth rate policy constructed,” notes Christophe Capuano, historian of birth rate policies. Six years later, General de Gaulle called for “two million beautiful babies” to rebuild the country.

The baby boom is supported by the first universal family allowances, housing assistance and the family quotient.

A French obsession

In France, the defenders of the birth rate have made an almost unnatural alliance. “Pronatalists are republicans who defend national power,” summarizes Christophe Capuano. If they oppose contraception and abortion, it is not for moral reasons but demographic ones. For their part, “the familyists, Catholic and initially less republican, promoted the traditional discourse of the Church on the family,” continues the historian. These two trends have made the birth rate a French obsession, which will bear fruit. During the Trente Glorieuses, France was one of the champions of the baby boom.

After this period, the birth rate ceases to be a fixed idea. Family policies are becoming commonplace, financial incentives are considered secondary. But births are plummeting: 819,000 in 2014 compared to 677,000 in 2023, according to INSEE. The fear of depopulation resurfaces. We must perpetuate the social model, with pensions in mind. The letter sent by the government is part of this context, as Emmanuel Macron called for “demographically rearming” France in 2024. Traditionally, the State limited itself to creating an environment favorable to families. With targeted incentives on the means of natural and artificial procreation, it enters the intimate and moral spheres. Thanks to medical technologies, it is no longer just about helping families. It is present in the biological calendar, in the desire for a child itself, and in the way of giving life.