Russia’s total fertility rate, which hovered around two lifetime births per woman from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, has dropped steeply since 1987, falling to 1.4 births per woman in 1994. This decline has been accompanied by a trend toward earlier marriage and childbearing. Contraceptive use is limited, and abortion is the main fertility regulation method for many women. In 1992, the abortion rate was 98 per 1,000 women aged 15-49, and abortions outnumbered births by more than two to one. These are among the findings that Russian analysts presented at a 1995 conference on demographic trends in post-Soviet Russia. (далее…)