Russian women say the idea of using?therapy to get them to have?children is coercive, cruel and unworkable, and will do little to reverse declining birth rates — currently at their lowest in 200 years.

The health ministry approved new guidelines in February recommending that health professionals send women who do not want children to a psychotherapist with the aim of “fostering a positive attitude toward motherhood.”

But women interviewed for this story said the plan would not work. They asked to be referred only by their first names for this story.