You had a baby? How would you liek a NEEEWWWWWW CCAAAAAARRRR!!!!

In Russia, parents could win a car for having a baby

ULYANOVSK, Russia - Make a baby, win a car.
Do not be surprised if the streets are empty and curtains drawn in this central Russian region today as residents take up an offer by the regional governor to help stem Russia's demographic crisis.

Governor Sergei Morozov of Ulyanovsk has decreed Sept. 12 a Day of Conception and is giving couples time off from work to procreate. Couples who give birth nine months later on Russia's national day, June 12, will receive money, cars, or other prizes.
It is the third year that the Volga River region, about 550 miles east of Moscow, has held the contest. Since then the number of participants, and the number of babies born, has been on the rise.

"If there's a good, healthy atmosphere at home within the family, if the husband and wife both love each other and their child, they will be in good spirits and that will extend to the workplace. So there will be a healthy atmosphere throughout the country," Morozov told AP Television. "The leadership (of the country) is interested in the family."
Russia's population has dropped since the 1991 Soviet collapse, hurt by declining birth rates, a low life expectancy, a spike in emigration, a frayed healthcare system, and other factors. The world's largest country now has 141.4 million citizens, making it one of the most sparsely settled nations.

The first year, 2005, just 311 women signed up to take part, and qualify for a half-day off from work. The next June, 46 more babies were born in Ulyanovsk's 25 hospitals compared with the previous June, including 28 born on June 12, officials said.
More than 500 women signed up in 2006 - resulting nine months later in 78 babies, more than triple the region's daily average.

"I don't think people get pregnant just to get a prize on the 12th (of June) but if the dates coincide and they give you a . . . car, there's nothing wrong with that," said Yuri, a 28-year-old father-to-be who declined to give his last name.

In Ulyanovsk, everyone who has a baby in a local hospital on June 12 gets some kind of prize. The winners of the grand prize - a locally made sport utility vehicle called a UAZ-Patriot - are couples judged by a committee on criteria such as "respectability" and "commendable parenting."