On a cluster of metal benches outside the infertility unit at Paropakar Maternity and Women’s hospital in Kathmandu, a dozen married couples sit in hope and fear. They have come from across Nepal, but many share something in common; the husband has spent years working abroad, often in the Gulf.
Ramesh* says he had no choice but to leave for work overseas to earn money for his extended family, but it has come at a price: a family of his own. He and his wife, Jyoti, had a daughter shortly after they married, but then he went to work as an electrician in Saudi Arabia for 16 years. Despite regular visits home, they have been unable to have another child.
