? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
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A story of miscarriages and the taboos surrounding surrogacy: Selat Rahem, airing during the first half of Ramadan, follows anesthesiologist Hossam (Eyad Nassar) and his wife Laila (Yousra El Lozy), who finally become pregnant after years of trying to conceive. In a tragic turn of events, Laila not only loses the baby, but has to have her uterus removed. To relieve his wife’s grief, Hossam resorts to looking for an alternate solution for having children.

Hoping to find a surrogate, Hossam turns to his colleague Khaled (Mohamed Gomaa) — whom he knows performs illegal abortions — asking him to help him with the process. Hossam hopes to use Laila’s eggs — which she had previously frozen — for an IVF procedure without her knowledge. He finds Hanan (Asmaa Abulyazid), who agrees to carry their child for a fee, again without Laila’s knowledge.

The series discusses several controversial topics in addition to surrogacy, including abortion, domestic violence, and infidelity. Nassar (whose character is almost impossible to sympathize with), El Lozy, and Abulyazid all deliver masterclass performances that make the show a must-watch. There are also several new faces that helped make the series much more realistic and diversify the faces we see on screen.

But some episodes feel drawn out by scenes we felt were unnecessary and could have been removed without affecting the plot. That being said, the creators still succeed in delivering highly compelling ideas that will keep you thinking until the next episode.

Disclaimer: The show is definitely not family-friendly. Sensitive topics are at the core of the plot, and, along with some graphic scenes, may not be suitable for everyone.

WHERE TO WATCH- If you can handle a dose of drama at Iftar, you can find Selat Rahem on Shahid or catch the trailer here (watch, runtime: 0:40).

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