Ragunda, Sweden offering free IVF to attract new residents?

When you follow fertility news like the team at SteadyHealth does, you come across some odd stuff. From three-parent IVF to the over 70s giving birth, and from red bracelets for menstruating employees to fetuses with facebook pages we have seen it all! The latest in a series of weird and wonderful fertility news that came to our attention is this small rural town in Sweden called Ragunda. They are so worried about their dwindling population that they are seriously considering covering new residents' IVF treatment or adoption cost.

Ragunda is a town of 5,600 in the North West of Sweden, which is a small country with its 9.3 million citizens. Authorities are concerned about the life literally leaving rural communities. In the last five years, 383,000 people chose to say goodbye to villages and moved to bigger towns and cities. So, how do you combat the problem of an aging and shrinking population in those rural parts of the country? Ragunda's answer might be to offer new residents subsidies to cover infertility treatment and adoption costs. That would bring the village an influx of kids as well as parents. Is this something that could bring life back to this part of Sweden? Well, perhaps.

The local authorities are also thinking of inviting Thai citizens into their humble abode, since a Thai king visited the place in 1897 and there is a Thai pavilion there. These people sound desperate! Would you move to a remote village and commit to living there with your children, if only the local authorities would help you bring those kids into the world? For some, this may be a dream come true. For others, the free IVF offer is too good to pass up on. If you're interested, you should consider writing a letter to the good folks of Ragunda. You never know if this is your lucky day particularly if you happen to be Thai too!