'I will do it again,' Palestinian woman happy to conceive from smuggled sperm

By Ayser al-Eis

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - It has been more than two years since the Palestinian child Yaman Abu Hamid was born. But, unlike millions of other children, the way he came to the world was unique since he was born from smuggled sperm as his father Nasr Abu Hamid was imprisoned in the occupied West Bank's Al-Amari refugee camp.

The 49-year-old father has spent the past 21 years in Ashkelon prison, where he is facing five life sentences on five different counts.

The only way for him and his wife, Alaa Abu Hamid, to have a child was to smuggle sperm and undergo the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process, a technique used by dozens of married Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons to become fathers.

The first known successful attempt was in 2012 by Ammar al-Zabin, who is facing a life sentence.

- Victory

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Alaa said she and her husband were overjoyed with Yaman's birth as it symbolized their victory over the Israeli prison system.

"The moment of Yaman's birth was like freedom for Nasr (her husband)," Alaa remarked. "It was an overwhelming and indescribable joy."

It was Nasr's prolonged detention that motivated the couple to smuggle sperm and try IVF. "I was afraid that I would grow old and not be able to have children," Alaa quoted her husband as saying, adding that the feeling of being a father gave him a sense of liberation despite still being held behind bars.

Narrating the process of smuggling sperm out of prison, Alaa said the process was delicate, complicated, and patience-testing.

"The process of getting the sperm out of the prison, and even delivering it to the device that would preserve it, requires patience and time due to the complications, inspections and transfers pursued by the prison administration," she explained.

- Controversial movie

The decision to interview Alaa was made amid a controversy surrounding a 2021 movie, Amira. The film tells the story of a young girl born from smuggled sperm while her father was languishing in Israel's Megiddo prison.

However, the girl later realizes that the sperm that was smuggled out of the jail was actually that of an Israeli soldier.

While the film, directed by Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, was to represent Jordan at the 94th Academy Awards in the international feature film category in 2022, the country later withdrew its submission after criticism that it insults Palestinian prisoners.

The movie was shot in Jordan in 2019 and is a Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian co-production.

Alaa, however, denounced the movie's questioning of the lineage of the prisoners' children born through smuggled sperm.

She believes the movie's aim was to harm the prisoners' state of mind and discourage them from smuggling sperm to have children.

"Whoever has not tasted prison and has not lived through suffering has no right to go into the details of the prisoners' lives," she said, adding that the film "only spreads toxicity."

The movie was also condemned by Palestinian institutions concerned with prisoners' affairs for questioning the lineage of children born from smuggled sperm of prisoners inside Israeli prisons.

The Royal Film Commission of Jordan released a statement on Thursday, announcing that it had decided to withdraw Amira from the 2022 Academy Awards in light of the "recent huge controversy that it is detrimental to the Palestinian cause."

Withdrawing the film out of "respect to the feelings of the prisoners and their families," the commission stood by its "artistic value," and argued that it highlights the plight of Palestinian prisoners and "their willingness to live a decent life in spite of the occupation."

Palestinian statistics show that at least 98 babies have been born using smuggled sperm since 2012.

Alaa insisted she has no regrets about giving birth via smuggled sperm despite the controversy created by the movie.

"I am very happy with Yaman's birth through sperm smuggled from prison, and I am ready to do it again."

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara