Children “Diamond”: how the IVF procedure appeared in the Soviet Union

Soviet doctors began to study the issue of artificial insemination as early as 1940. The pioneer was Professor Boris Pavlovich Khvatov, who headed the department of histology and embryology at the Crimean Medical Institute. He and his students conducted the first experiments with animals in 1954, and a year later a childless married couple dreaming of a child became a participant in the experiment.

The pregnancy of a woman who accepted IVF ended in miscarriage after 13 weeks. One of the scientists, who does not like Khvatov, reported on the work of Boris Pavlovich in the regional committee of the CPSU. Soon the teacher was called to the mat. After a conversation with officials, he returned to the Institute darker than a cloud and announced that “experiments on Soviet women” should be stopped. “I won’t get worse, but you still have everything ahead of you – I don’t want to distort your fate,” Khvatov said.

Khvatov’s case continued in 1965: a new group on early embryogenesis was formed from specialists who studied infertility. In 1986, kusher gynecologist Elena Kalinina and embryologist Valentin Lukin performed the first successful artificial insemination. So, in Moscow, the first “diamond child” was born – Elena Dontsova.

Why the diamond? Elena Kalinina explained in an interview: the first procedures required extremely expensive equipment, and not every doctor could cope with the task.

IVF quickly became overrun with many myths. Back in the USSR, there were rumors that children conceived in this way were born weak and sick. Where they come from is not clear: the first “eco” girl Elena was no different from her peers. Doctors have been following her for many years, and Elena herself, who changed her name to Alena, has repeatedly participated in programs dedicated to IVF.

During one of them, Alena said in an interview, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church said that the procedure was against God’s will. The woman did not hold back: “Since mankind reached IVF, then it was also God’s will,” she replied. His opponent never knew what to say to that.