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A new law passed in Turkey has made it a criminal offense for a woman to go abroad and get pregnant via artificial insemination. Artificial insemination is already illegal, but women have until now been able to go overseas to seek sperm donors. Now they will face punishment of one to three years in prison for doing so. Doctors and lawyers say they are trying to find out how the government plans to enforce the law. Marco Werman talks with Pinar Ilkkaracan, the co-founder of Women for Women’s Human Rights in Istanbul.(flickr image courtesy of fxp)

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman.  And this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston.

Artificial insemination is usually not controversial – at least not here in the United States.  In Turkey, it’s a different story.  Artificial insemination is banned by Turkish law.  And now, a new measure makes it a crime for a Turkish woman to get pregnant with sperm from a foreign donor.  Officials say the measure is based on a law that forbids concealing a child’s paternity.  Pinar Ilkkaracan is the co-founder of Women for Women’s Human Rights in Istanbul.

Can you tell us why artificial insemination is illegal in the first place in Turkey?

PINAR ILKKARACAN: It’s because the Turkish government has failed to take necessary steps to bring [INDISCERNIBLE] in line with new reproductive technologies until now.  In fact, it’s not because there has been any Parliamentary debate on it, it was only a missing step to have legal sperm banks in Turkey.

WERMAN: And the government says the ban on artificial insemination is really about trying to protect inheritance rights for children, correct?

ILKKARACAN: Well, that is – I think this a new excuse that they have brought only today as the international and national public attention grew on this.  I think what is really behind this law is a very conservative attitude which is targeting single women who use artificial insemination to get children, and probably also gay couples.

WERMAN: So now there’s this new measure which makes it a crime for a Turkish woman to get pregnant with sperm from a foreign donor.  Is this new measure about trying to stop sperm donations from foreigners, or is it really more about the whole artificial insemination issue in Turkey?

ILKKARACAN: You see, Turkey’s a secular country, okay.  And this government has some religious roots.  But it is forbidden in Turkey by Constitution, to have any religious arguments for a law.  So I think what – it’s their interpretation of Islam – according to their interpretation of Islam, I think they think that this is a necessary step, but under cover they are saying that this is in order to protect Turkish lineage.

WERNER: So give us a little context here.  What’s the practice in neighboring countries in the region?

ILKKARACAN: For example, Greece, which is Turkey’s neighbor, has one of the most progressive laws on sperm donation and [SOUNDS LIKE] reproductive technologies in the world.  And actually, a lot of people also go to Greece from Turkey.  And another neighbor, for example, Iran, has [INDISCERNIBLE] Fatwa, a limited degree, saying that under certain conditions, third party egg and sperm donation is allowed.  But for example in Lebanon, for the Sunni population in Lebanon, it is forbidden.  But according to Islamic authorities, there’s quite a divergence of views on this issue.

WERMAN: How much support does this new measure have among Turks, say, in Istanbul?

ILKKARACAN: First of all, I must say that the Turkish public learned it through the international media, through BBC.

WERMAN: Oh, they’re hearing about this for the first time through the international media.

ILKKARACAN: [OVERLAPPING] [INDISCERNIBLE] It wasn’t in the Turkish media until yesterday, until BBC brought it up.  This regulation was published in the Official Gazette on the 6^th of March.  It’s very much a backdoor regulation, a very [SOUNDS LIKE] sleazy one.  So there hasn’t been any public debate on this.  So now the reactions are coming and the women’s groups are starting to prepare for a protest.

WERNER: But there has been a consciousness of this issue.  I mean, last year it got a public airing when one of Turkey’s best known actresses announced she had used a sperm donor in Denmark to conceive her daughter, who is now five months old.  What was the reaction then?

ILKKARACAN: This was – yes, there has been a consciousness.  There has been a lot of support for her.  That’s the reason why I’ve said that actually, the Turkish society, until this measure, was rather for decriminalizing sperm banks and allowed women, including the single women and gay couples, and whatever, to have in vitro fertilization through third party sperm donors.

WERNER: You know, Turkey is very keen to join the European Union, but one of the issues that always comes up is how European Turkey really is.  I’m wondering what this measure says about Turkey and the extent to which it is on the same page with other EU countries.

ILKKARACAN: You’re very right.  It seems that the government thinks that it is enough to have certain reforms regarding freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, etc., that is like liberties in other areas.  But when it comes to gender relations, to women’s rights, I think they don’t understand or they don’t realize that their mentality has to change if they would really like to join the European Union, and this is another example of it.

WERNER: Benar Ilkkaracan is the Co-Founder of Women for Women’s Human Rights in Istanbul.  She’s also the Co-Founder of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Countries.  Very good to speak with you.  Thanks for your time.

ILKKARACAN: Thank you very much.

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