The image of a Saudi pediatrician has remained etched in memory for over 34 years, when she appeared in National Geographic magazine in 1987 while conducting examinations on a child at King Abdulaziz Air Base Hospital in Dhahran. Recently, activists on social media have shared that photograph, questioning the health of the situation back then and the rarity of Saudi women's representation in the media at that time.
Arabia.net spoke with Dr. Hanan Al-Sebai, an obstetrician-gynecologist, to recount her experience of appearing for the first time in National Geographic. She reflects, "It was a coincidence that led me to appear in an international magazine when I was 22 years old. During that time, American writer Marianna Ali Reza, who was married to a Saudi man, visited Saudi Arabia to meet her children living in Jeddah, in addition to observing the significant developments that had occurred in Saudi Arabia from the 1940s to the 1980s."
She added, "The writer was looking for Saudi women to meet while they were at work, to write a journalistic article titled 'Saudi Arabia: Between the Present and the Past', aiming to show the world the true image of Saudi women living their everyday lives, studying and working like men without bias. However, once the article was completed and published in the magazine, it was banned from publication in Saudi Arabia, given the great reservations about media visibility and discussions regarding Saudi society in general and Saudi women in particular, whether in a negative or positive light."
Regarding the support Dr. Hanan received for her media appearance in the magazine, she mentioned, "My father, mother, and all my family members supported me to appear, noting that my father was holding onto the customs and traditions prevalent in Saudi society at the time, which prevented Saudi women from appearing in any media outlet. However, he did not oppose my path and was a great supporter and motivator, given his broad cultural background and significant engagement with the Aramco community during his employment there."
On her relationship with newborns in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Hanan said, "My connection with them is strong, and I experience a great feeling that cannot be described and can only be understood by someone who has experienced it when meeting one of them. I have delivered two generations, having delivered a girl, and 26 years later, she came to me accompanied by her husband to deliver her own daughter."
**Medicine: My Destiny**
As for her decision to enter the medical field, Dr. Hanan explained, "When I intended to study medicine, my ambition urged me to pursue my studies abroad in the specialty I wanted. However, I faced rejection from my father about studying outside the Eastern Province, and the only available option for women at that time was to study medicine, which was the sole specialization permitted at the Eastern University."
She continued, "After graduating from university, I worked for two years at King Abdulaziz Air Base Hospital in Dhahran, then went to Germany to continue my studies. I married a German man and had two children. After living in Germany for 14 years, I returned to Saudi Arabia to be with my father during his illness, and I settled in one of the hospitals in the Eastern Province."
