Habibi: Palestinian Prisoners Turn to IVF

Palestine, Gaza - January 18, 2015: A woman in a kindergarten during the free distribution of school supplies. This is the story of Palestinian prisoners"u2019 wives who have turned to sperm smuggling in order to conceive children from their husbands who are serving long-term sentences. Around 7,000 Palestinians are serving time in Israeli prisons, with nearly 1,000 facing sentences of 20 years or more. Conjugal visits are denied and prisoners are separated from visitors by glass panels. "nIn the past two years, 30 babies have been born through IVF. The Razan Fertility Clinic in Nablus and the Al-Basma Fertility Clinic in Gaza offer the treatment to prisoners"u2019 wives free of charge, freezing around 70 prisoners' sperm samples and receiving more from behind the prison bars. Prisoners are allowed visits every two weeks and these last for only 45 minutes. Family members must be first-degree relatives. After a thorough body search, visitors are able to talk to their loved ones through a telephone from behind a glass window. Physical contact is forbidden, except for prisoners"u2019 children, who are allowed ten minutes at the end of each visit to embrace their fathers. This is the secret way prisoners"u2019 sperm manages to leave the prisons, and is these women"u2019s only hope for a family. It is also one of their opportunities to join the Palestinian resistance. (Photo by Antonio Faccilongo/Getty Images Reportage)