Should We Form a Family with the State? Trust, Reproduction, and Gender

The combination of pronatalism and populism has created new forms of family care benefits, also contributing to the commodification of maternity. In Hungary childcare benefits target predominantly large families, or parents who intend to have 3 or more children. More recently even infertility treatments were nationalized. These policies seem benevolent. Nevertheless, examined more closely, the picture is not as rosy as depicted in the promotional campaigns. Assisted reproduction has always raised difficult ethical and legal questions. It deeply affects personal relationships and family bonds. But it also brings up the political issue of who controls women's bodily integrity. Although the state may offer useful financial aid, but it should not intrude in the life of women and their families by putting social pressure on them through economic means. After all, people form a family or want children with their loved ones – and not with the state.