Kathmandu, Nepal – at 18, Bharati left the Kavrepalanchok district in Nepal dreaming of one thing: sending his future children in the best schools in the country.
By continuing this vision, he found himself suspended from the shiny skyscrapers of Qatar, his body swing while he was carrying buckets of paint weighing up to 30 kilograms (66 pounds), for 12 hours a day, for 900 Qatari riyals ($ 247.25) per month.
Bharati, who asked that only his last name be used for fear of stigma, endured a decade of this work in the ruthless heat of Qatar.
Now, at 29, Bharati and his wife are anxiously seated in the corridor outside the infertility unit of Katmandu’s paropakar maternity unit and the hospital for women with half a dozen other couples, foreigners united by parallel destinies.
Once dispersed through the burning landscapes of the Gulf, they now share this space due to a shared problem: infertility or the imminent fear of it.
Almost 3.5 million nepalis Work abroad, mainly in the nations of the Gulf, their shipments reducing poverty by 27% and supporting countless families. But behind these economic gains is a hidden toll: the bodies worn by an exhausting work in a burning heat. And they often return home infertile.
A study of 186 Infertile men In eastern Nepal, found that 46% were gulfs – making migration the most important risk factor.
Although more research is necessary to fully understand the link between migration and infertility, doctors indicate extreme heat and difficult, often abusive conditions, many men are confronted in the Gulf as probable contributors.
Dr. Binita Thapa, embryologist at the Center for Infertility of Maternity Paropakar and the Hospital for Women, warns the growing consequences, because the current exodus of young workers could accelerate the decline of fertility. Some repatriated, she notes, are as young as 21 years old and already have no number of sperm.
“Half of all our cases of infertility per day come from returnees from the Gulf,” explains Dr. Jwala Thapa, obstetrician and gynecologist at the hospital.
In response to the growing crisis, the hospital began to offer a stock of sperm, eggs and embryos a year and a half ago, the only government establishment in Nepal to do so. As a public hospital, it also offers these services at subsidized prices, which makes treatment more accessible than in private clinics.
It is also the first government hospital in Nepal to introduce in vitro fertilization. Private clinics charge between 1 million and 1.2 million Nepalese rupees (US $ 7,300 at US $ 8,750) for the same service, explains Dr. Binita Thapa. In this hospital, the cost is as little as 250,000 rupees (US $ 1,820).
Thapa says that the service helps migrants who only get a few months at home every two years due to visa and contract limits. The strict rules of the golf visa also prevent most workers from bringing their family.
In 10 years abroad, Bharati has only managed a few two -month -old visits, spaced four years apart. Her 9 -year -old daughter is in the second year, but family whispers become stronger, the alumni asking a son to “carry the surname”.
Earlier this year, doctors diagnosed Bharati with oligospermia – a small number of sperm – a condition that makes the design difficult.
His wife, Chaulagain, marries silence and blame.
“They think it’s me,” she says. “But it’s my husband. He was abroad, and soon he will go again. However, I am the one they judge. ”
Bharati hits his hand as they wait in the hospital. In the past year, the couple has again paid all their hope.
“I had no choice but to go to the Gulf,” he says. “There was no opportunity for me in Nepal.”
Dr. Shree Prasad Adhikari, hospital director and reproductive health specialist, says that prolonged heat exposure damages male fertility. “Working long hours over high heat, even the underwear imprisoned heat around the testicles, harming fertility,” he said.
The testicles are seated outside the body to stay cool, which is essential for the production of sperm. The exposure to long -term heat reduces both the number of sperm and quality, every 1 degrees Celsius of the testicular temperature causing a drop of 14% of the number of sperm.
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and United Arab Emirates experienced record heat in July 2024, with temperatures in Riyadh reaching 46 C (116 F). Despite the increase in temperatures, most of the Gulf nations lack noon work prohibitions and do not use the temperature index of the wet bulb, a global standard to measure thermal stress, reports Human Rights Watch.
However, the Gulf remains the main destination for Nepalese migrants.
The migration of Nepal work jumped after the 1970s oil boom in the Middle East, workers filling construction, servants and services. By 2024, Qatar and Saudi Arabia alone welcomed 2.7 million Nepalese workers, making migration a vital part of the economy of Nepal.
“I had no choice but to go to the Gulf. There was no opportunity for me in Nepal.”
Rajera Bhandari, president of the Nepal Association of foreign job agencies, says that they are pressure for regulated work periods in the Gulf countries, especially during the peak summer.
While recognizing the challenges of migrants work abroad, Dandu Raj Ghimire, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security in Nepal, warns that the imposing strict bilateral agreement could reduce the global demand for Nepalese workers.
After months of failed treatments, the doctors offered Bharati a last option: intrauterine insemination with donors’ sperm, a procedure that would give his wife a child, but would end his dream of a biological son.
As they weigh the decision, Bharati remains in Nepal until his wife designs. After that, he says he has no choice but to return abroad to work.