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Jordan's black market in spare body parts
[Amman] Ziad, 20, desperately needed to come up with $1,500 to propose to the girl he loved before her parents could talk her into marrying a school teacher. Unemployed, with a criminal record and no skills to offer the job market, Ziad could not have been more desperate. He knocked on the doors of friends and relatives to borrow the dowry, but the economic recession hitting the country made it impossible for others to assist him.Selling a kidney would be the perfect solution to his distress, he thought to himself. "That was the magical solution to my problems and on top of that I could start a small business," says Ziad, who was offered $4,000 for a kidney. Within a week of making his decision, Ziad received a down payment and had all the necessary medical tests to have his kidney transplanted. The deal was done in secret as organ trade is banned in Jordan and anyone caught selling or buying organs faces trouble with the law. "I was told to keep my mouth shut until after the operation," recalls Ziad. In any case, in a tribal-dominated nation where social relations are very strong, Ziad would have committed social suicide if he disclosed to relatives or friends that he was selling a kidney. Posted by: ryuge 2007-02-08 |
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