1
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-Great! Go for it!
2
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I've always dreamed
of having a daughter.
3
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Where do you want to go?
I'm going with you.
4
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I dreamed about a girl
during my first pregnancy.
5
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First pregnancy: it was a boy.
6
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We thought he'll be there to
take care of his little sister.
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One pregnancy followed
another, and
8
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we got to the fourth boy.
9
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It's been years since I first
wanted a baby girl.
10
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I don't know how to explain it:
I was so desperate to have
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that little girl
12
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that, at some point,
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I would have done anything
to make it happen.
14
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That's why I chose to
come here to Cyprus.
15
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NEVER WITHOUT MY IVF
16
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Cyprus is just a three-hour flight
from Switzerland.
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The Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus
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has clinics offering
to prospective parents
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what the laws of their own
countries deny them:
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infertility treatment,
21
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oocyte donation,
embryo donation,
22
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but also sex selection
of their future child.
23
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This little country
in Northern Cyprus,
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unrecognized
by the international community,
25
00:01:37,323 --> 00:01:39,301
has forged itself
a notorious reputation
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for medically assisted
reproductive medicine.
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Europeans come here
to have babies.
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5,000 couples a year, including
about ten Swiss nationals
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in the last six months.
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Fourteen specialized clinics
welcome them there.
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Five more are under
construction.
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00:02:08,324 --> 00:02:10,628
Catherine and Olivier
are the parents of four boys.
33
00:02:12,534 --> 00:02:15,847
Originally from Belgium,
they want to remain anonymous.
34
00:02:16,458 --> 00:02:18,901
Only a few people close to them
know about their journey here,
35
00:02:19,314 --> 00:02:21,372
to the Republic
of Northern Cyprus,
36
00:02:22,136 --> 00:02:25,132
to select the gender
of their future child.
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00:02:25,926 --> 00:02:31,085
- I saw the sadness on her face
for not having her little girl.
38
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She's always dreamed of
having a girl, always.
39
00:02:35,543 --> 00:02:39,550
I couldn't leave her
with that sadness.
40
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The couple had to borrow money
to pay for the trip
41
00:02:44,710 --> 00:02:47,564
and medical expenses, the
equivalent of 5 to 7'500 Euros,
42
00:02:48,443 --> 00:02:49,993
the price of a dream:
43
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:51,999
having a daughter.
44
00:02:52,636 --> 00:02:54,374
- I've heard people's
thoughts on the subject:
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"Don't do it anymore,
46
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you don't know how
to have a girl."
47
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"Don't worry,
I'll do the girl for you."
48
00:03:02,644 --> 00:03:06,884
These are careless thoughts
to them,
49
00:03:07,084 --> 00:03:09,687
but they are very hurtful
to me.
50
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Like I say, it's bad enough
not having a daughter,
51
00:03:15,204 --> 00:03:21,224
but with that kind of thinking
on top, it really, really hurts.
52
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So I asked myself:
if I didn't have a problem,
53
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why the need?
54
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But by doing research,
one realizes
55
00:03:30,644 --> 00:03:34,724
that we're not alone, it's just
that we have to hide from it.
56
00:03:35,984 --> 00:03:39,109
to avoid judgment,
the critics.
57
00:03:39,869 --> 00:03:44,524
But there are really
very many of us.
58
00:03:45,086 --> 00:03:48,166
- People disguise their coming here,
because the choice of sex
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00:03:48,366 --> 00:03:51,413
is illegal in most European
countries, including Switzerland
60
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since the signing of the
Convention of Oviedo in 1997.
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Though the subject is divisive,
many websites make it appealing.
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On this specialized site,
packages are offered
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00:04:05,615 --> 00:04:07,974
and thousands of comments
are posted there.
64
00:04:08,554 --> 00:04:10,461
Questions, doubts,
experiments.
65
00:04:11,138 --> 00:04:14,646
That's how Catherine
decided to take the plunge.
66
00:04:17,446 --> 00:04:21,368
In the northern part of Cyprus,
Famagusta is home to
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one of the first gender
selection clinics.
68
00:04:33,566 --> 00:04:38,096
It was created 25 years ago
by this man.
69
00:04:54,166 --> 00:04:56,126
- Halil Ibrahim Tekin.
- Halil Ibrahim Tekin.
70
00:04:56,807 --> 00:05:00,054
On the island, they call him
71
00:05:00,509 --> 00:05:01,822
'Dr. Hit,'
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00:05:02,057 --> 00:05:04,646
the man who hits his target
every time.
73
00:05:04,671 --> 00:05:08,246
At 57, he guarantees a child
to all couples
74
00:05:08,438 --> 00:05:11,238
who come to see him, even
if it means pushing
75
00:05:11,406 --> 00:05:14,126
ever further the
ethical boundaries
76
00:05:14,326 --> 00:05:17,168
surrounding reproductive
medical assistance.
77
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,716
- Pushing back the childbearing
age, with sex selection,
78
00:06:29,029 --> 00:06:33,611
Dr. Hit's reputation reaches
beyond
the borders of the island.
79
00:06:34,602 --> 00:06:37,606
Every day, he realizes an average
of five oocyte retrievals
80
00:06:37,806 --> 00:06:40,366
and as many embryo transfers.
81
00:06:40,741 --> 00:06:44,141
That very day,
it's the long-awaited moment
82
00:06:44,166 --> 00:06:46,066
for Catherine and Olivier.
83
00:06:47,450 --> 00:06:49,914
- We're under stress.
You just never know.
84
00:06:49,992 --> 00:06:53,493
We're a little sleepy.
There's always a small risk.
85
00:06:55,382 --> 00:06:58,886
Afterwards, we hope we've reaped
quite a few embryos
86
00:06:59,086 --> 00:07:02,794
that we can implant
next time.
87
00:07:04,171 --> 00:07:06,476
-The process is quick and easy.
88
00:07:06,608 --> 00:07:09,741
It's similar to the one
of in vitro fertilization.
89
00:07:09,766 --> 00:07:13,014
We're harvesting oocytes
of the mother-to-be.
90
00:07:13,404 --> 00:07:17,419
She underwent hormone therapy
to encourage
91
00:07:17,444 --> 00:07:19,538
the production of these oocytes.
92
00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,158
Once collected,
the oocytes are transmitted
93
00:07:23,388 --> 00:07:26,035
to the embryologist,
who will sort through
94
00:07:26,060 --> 00:07:28,042
them... and then
impregnate them.
95
00:07:28,067 --> 00:07:30,676
On the third day, he will
proceed to a cell biopsy
96
00:07:30,701 --> 00:07:35,061
and will entrust it to a laboratory,
who will examine the chromosomes
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00:07:35,126 --> 00:07:37,209
and will determine gender.
98
00:07:40,692 --> 00:07:44,406
As many as three embryos will be
implanted in the mother's uterus
99
00:07:44,431 --> 00:07:46,534
to increase
the chances of survival.
100
00:07:46,559 --> 00:07:49,192
The question that inevitably
follows is this:
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00:07:49,317 --> 00:07:51,806
what happens to the embryos
not selected?
102
00:07:51,831 --> 00:07:54,770
Some of them are preserved,
others are destroyed.
103
00:07:55,409 --> 00:07:57,986
It is over this point that
the scientific community
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00:07:58,011 --> 00:07:59,950
is tearing itself apart.
105
00:08:07,771 --> 00:08:09,226
In Nicosia, the capital,
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00:08:09,659 --> 00:08:13,349
a wall separates the Republic
of Northern Cyprus from Europe.
107
00:08:14,177 --> 00:08:16,950
It also separates two visions
of medicine.
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00:08:17,392 --> 00:08:21,282
The situation worries the
experts in the European part.
109
00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,671
- And yet the practice is legal
in other countries:
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00:09:19,696 --> 00:09:22,550
in the U.S., Israel or Jordan.
111
00:09:22,597 --> 00:09:25,424
The idea of sex selection
is making headway,
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00:09:25,472 --> 00:09:28,719
driven by those
who are willing,
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00:09:28,806 --> 00:09:31,321
like Catherine, to
plead their cause.
114
00:09:35,382 --> 00:09:37,046
- "Dear Madam Minister
of Health,
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00:09:37,206 --> 00:09:39,529
I'm addressing
you on a subject
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00:09:39,554 --> 00:09:41,950
which is, in our
country, taboo."
117
00:09:42,126 --> 00:09:44,238
- A few months ago,
Catherine wrote this message
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00:09:44,263 --> 00:09:47,129
to the government
of her country, Belgium:
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00:09:47,154 --> 00:09:49,249
a message that
went unanswered.
120
00:09:50,088 --> 00:09:53,759
- Under certain conditions,
I would stop some couples
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00:09:55,216 --> 00:09:59,905
having to keep have children
until they get the sex they want.
122
00:09:59,930 --> 00:10:02,046
Some countries
do family balancing:
123
00:10:02,246 --> 00:10:05,790
so, from upwards of two children
of the same sex, you're then free
124
00:10:05,846 --> 00:10:09,106
to choose one of
the opposite sex.
125
00:10:09,466 --> 00:10:13,739
Clearly, I think that you have
to evolve with the times.
126
00:10:13,887 --> 00:10:16,166
It can't be open to everyone;
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00:10:16,366 --> 00:10:19,926
only as a family
balancing act.
128
00:10:22,213 --> 00:10:25,046
- Catherine hopes that some day,
her approach will be understood.
129
00:10:25,071 --> 00:10:28,933
In the meantime, she will return
in one month to Northern Cyprus
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for embryo implantation,
the last leg
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00:10:32,145 --> 00:10:35,035
of a long process,
scorned, expensive.
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The price of a dream
or an obsession?