hard earned future. a real look at the american dream. "hard earned". tomorrow, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. sfwhoo this is al jazeera america. with a look at today's top stories. syrian rebels are blaming russia for the death of a top rebel commander. the leader of a major syrian opposition group talks to al jazeera about what happens next for the peace process it syria. plus a look at a year of setbacks for i.s.i.l. large area of lands are lost, tens of thousands of fighters killed and what could lie ahead in 2016. will not reproductive rights.

why same sex companies have to fight their insurance companies to cover infertility treatments. a look back at some of our weekly discussions in a deeper look. those stories in a moment. first, we begin with an al jazeera exclusive. al jazeera's investigative unit has infiltrated the world of sports doping, working with an undercover british athlete, we have raised serious questions about possible questions between medical professions and professional adds leitz. the-- professionals and professional attests leads. -- athletes. >> they are all urine tests

>> reporter: this hidden camera footage shows an american baseball player talking about using drugs banned in sport, in particular a steroid known as delta 2. >> i was scared to be honest with you. i took for, like, two weeks. i had a test four weeks after my last administration of it. i was also taking peptides too. >> reporter: the conversation took place in texas in the apartment of a pharmacist charlie sly. it was recorded by a british athletes working undercover. at one stage he offers lee am a syringe of delta 2. >> when we got back to his flat. he pulls this out of his fridge and saying you can have it now >> reporter: he goes on to name

eight other major players who he claims are using a range of banned drugs. it is all part of an undercover investigation by al jazeera into what athletes call the dark side. the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. the athletes and medical professionals who responded to our request for comment denied any wrongdoing. we also infiltrated a doping network in canada. we filmed a pharmacist and doctor who supply our undercover athlete with an array of banned drugs and offered to destroy medical records to cover it up. >> we do ten injections a day. if you want to really go black op so to speak, i can just document everything not in this chart but on my own chart and if somebody ever comes sniffing for

it there's the decoy. >> reporter: some different respond. charlie sly now says his statements captured on hidden camera about athletes were false and incorrect. our investigation raises serious questions about whether pharmacists and doctors are taking doping to a new level. debenture road accident davis-- debra davis. al jazeera washington you can watch the entire investigation, the dark side, secrets of the sports dopers tomorrow night 9 prime minister eastern. in syria rebel groups are blaming russia for friday's air strike that killed a top rebel leader. they saying they're trying disrupt the peace process. it puts in jeopardy a plan to evacuate i.s.i.l. fighters and their families near damascus.

our correspondent reports >> reporter: jaysh al-islam has a new commander. issam al-buwidani takes over following the death of zahran alloush in a syrian government air strike. the armed group which is based on the outskirts of damascus vowed revenge. the syrian opposition has condemned the killing of zahran alloush. the prime minister announced by the syrian opposition and he says that zahran alloush could have been key to the success of planned talks to solve the syrian crisis. >> translation: they killed the man who was going to play a serious role in syria. the death of zahran alloush could be the start of more killings of opposition commanders and politicians. >> reporter: the rebel commander was killed the same day that the syrian government announced a

deal with i.s.i.l. and al-nusra front and al-qaeda affiliate. the deal was to allow fighters of the two groups and their families a safe passage out of damn as was in ex-- damascus in exchange of pulling out of the outskirts of the city and the nearby neighborhood. the deal was seen by the opposition as an indication the syrian government colonel eweding with i.s.i.l.-- colluding with i.s.i.l. >> translation: the regime has deflected attention from the fact that what is happening is the fight for political rights and to fight off a regime against i.s.i.l. for the international community the fight against i.s.i.l. comes first >> reporter: these are delicate time for the opposition. over the last two years it has lost significant grouped in southern aleppo, homs and other areas. many of its commanders have been

killed and is coming under mounting pressure to joint talks it as sad. >> reporter: the discussions are seen as major concession with the rebels who had hoped to force bashar al-assad out of power. now the french and americans are no longer insisting on an immediate departure of the syrian president in iraq government forces say they are making progress in their effort to retake the i.s.i.l.-held city of ramadi. the advance has been slowed by booby traps and gun attacks with i.s.i.l. forces. they're attempting to lab liberate the last district of ramadi which was captured in may. the defensive began on tuesday and is supported by u.s.-led air strikes. an online awe yo message claiming to be from the i.s.i.l. leader says they lost area.

the man purporting to be the leader that despite the losses, the coalition has not weakened the group. it also called the new saudi led muslim coalition to fight i.s.i.l. un-islamic and saying the group is closer to fighting israel. earlier i spoke to an analyst about the significance of the death have zahran alloush. >> zahran alloush he was the leader of jaysh al-islam which is a group that is what we could call normally call parliament of the moderate opposition. of course, others would contest just how moderate they are, but nonetheless they're not an al-qaeda affiliate, they're not i.s.i.l. and yet they are fighting against the bashar al-assad regime for its over flow what do we know about the successor, issam al-buwidani? >> very little. we know he is a very prominent

field commander but he doesn't have the idea logical heft and won't be the presence at the peace talks that zahran alloush would have been why is it significant? >> it's too hard to tell if it's significant with respect to the peace terms, but it's insignificant in that a major commander from a group that many were counting on to play a significant role in these talks is no longer in the picture. even if, as the group says, they're going to move forward and carry on with the peace talks and their position hasn't changed, not having this prominent leader will change the character of the talks a message was given that they were closer to fighting israel. what do you think of that? >> i think that's rhetoric. that's close to their claims

back last summer that they were going to burn areas. that's good rhetoric for stoking the troops and saying that the grand battles are coming. it doesn't bear much reality to what - you know, it doesn't correlate with the real abilities on the ground does he need to stoke the troops on the ground. they've had a few setbacks >> clearly they have suffered a lot of setbacks in the last year. were it not for their capture of ramadi last may or june, we would be talking about nothing about setbacks for i.s.i.l. this year. they did capture ramadi. now, as you're reporting, it looks like the iraqi army is about to get that back. when it is taken back they have will have nothing to show but losses for the last year four people are dead in texas due to weather conditions. >> reporter: just three hours ago we were talking about the

tornado warnings across dallas. they have been lifted, but we have seen associated deaths. a tornado went through the west. i will show you that video of the video one more time of what is happening across the area. you can see the lightning with the thunder storms pushing through. we have seen about six tornadoes pushing across that area. lancaster, to the suburbs to the north-west. we do have tornado watches. down sanantoniio, severe thunder storm storms. it doesn't mean the tornado

watch is over. we're also dealing with flooding. look at this satellite image here. notice all the rain pushing up here. along that line we are looking at flash flood warnings that are now in effect as well. what is happening with the big picture is we had a lot of warm temperatures here down towards parts of texas. we have a jet stream down the south-west. that is providing energy as well as the lift. what we are seeing is several different things happening. over here towards the west that is the winter part of the storm. we have several days of bliss arid conditions that are-- blizzard conditions that are coming out over here. they have just issued right now ice storm warnings for parts of oklahoma. one to two feet of smei snow,

visiblity less than a quarter of a mile and winds up to 60 miles an hour. tomorrow the severe weather threat goes towards the east, starts to push into parts of louisianna. we are looking at conditions stopping the conditions at many highways across that region. going towards monday we are looking at that snow slowly moving to oklahoma. the threat comes along the coast and we will be dealing with days of very, very bad weather across the south the families of 43 mexican students are demonstrating in the capital to demand more answers. the students disappeared from a town last year after confrontation with police. the government says they were handed drugs. >> reporter: what these families are going through has been described as a permanent kind of torture. what these relatives are doing today has become a very sad kind

of writual, something that they do on september 26. september 26 2014 is when 42 students disappeared. we're here in the main square of mexico city. protesters have started to gather. they will be marching for about two morse. these families-- hours. these females have been repeatedly-- families have been protesting throughout the year to keep the pressure on the government to highlight the fact that they do not have answers more than a year after their loved ones went missing. of course, exactly what happened remains a mystery. there does seem to be agreement on one thing. between the mexican government and independent investigators and that is that these men are dead. that is where the similarities end. the mexican government says that these men were killed by a drug gang, massacred and their remains burned and dumped into a

landfill. an independent investigation says there's no evidence to support that. calls for the mexican government to open a new investigation have been met with silence. what we do know is that these men did hijack buses. they were attempting to get transportation to another city to fund raise for the school and it is believed that one of the buses that they highjacked was transporting drugs and that they were likely came into a very violent conflict with a drug gang. the bottom line is that the families just want the truth. they want to know what happened to their loved ones. a team of independent investigators is hoping that by 2016 they will be able to give some definitive answers to these families deportations are on the rise in the u.s. as hundreds of migrants are sent back to central america every day. for those who decide to make the dangerous journey, extortion and abuse have become commonplace.

>> reporter: the road to the u.s. has been barred to central american migrants like never before. this is mexico where departations have-- deportations have gone up. hundreds are sent back every day to honduras, guatemala, countries suffering brutal gang violence and desperate poverty. >> translation: we are poor and that's why we look for the american dream. unfortunately, they catch and send us back for death. what can we do apart from trying again >> reporter: the count down began with the u.s. crisis. record numbers of child migrants turning up on its doorstep. mexico stepped forward to help stem the russian enroute. >> reporter: rather than focusing on the route causes that are accusing people to flee from central america, the u.s. has instead given mexico more money and equipment to cut off

the flow at the southern border. it has worked. roving check points and a constant watch on the cargo train that migrants climb on to travel north have made this the detention center is full to bursting. as the net is closed, accusations of extortion and physical abuse have soared. this is what happened to oscar's arm when he was ran over by a patrol who saw his injury but left him lead bleeding on the side of the roadside. >> translation: other people would have helped and taken me to a hospital. they didn't care. it was as if i wasn't human. >> reporter: to avoid authorities, migrants are often forced to travel through isolated areas where gangs of robbers and kidnappers lie in wait. the state migration protection office say they're acting against the criminals and also against corrupt officials. >> translation: we've shown clearly that we don't tolerate

impunity in the state. we've in had accusations against officials and we've caught and tried them and that's the best proof that migrants can trust us. >> reporter: that trust is far from earned yet. the vast majority of the migrants we talked to in mexico say authorities is just another threat in an increasingly hostile land coming up we take a deeper look at some of the big stories of 2015 that had everyone talking around the globe. later, they're fighting for a family. the legal loophole that's keeping some lesbians from having children. fertility infer tillity ity threat

fertility infertility fertility

it's that time on saturday night when we take a deeper look. tonight we will revisit some of the best discussions we've had on saturday nights during our deeper look and on sundays in the week ahead. we start a look back at 2015 with cuba. this year we watched as the u.s. and cuba normalized diplomatic relations for the first time in five decades. melissa chan went to my am eau - miami where cuban-americans make up a huge population. >> reporter: two angry men, the only protesters in little havana's favorite café. once upon a time an announcement would have brought a gaggle of

protesters but on wednesday it was business as usual. when asked about the latest step in the renewal of diplomatic ties, many of the regulars express anger. >> the cuban people have been betrayed and it's a long story. they have been betrayed since 1898 when the americans sunk the mayne with the excuse of invading cuba. >> i don't know what they're thinking. the cuban people are going to bevelled? right. give me a break. >> reporter: feelings have changed. even here with some cautionly optimistic about normalization. >> it is a mixed sentiment. 56 years of dictatorship and the government of the united states approaches its traditional enemy. of course it's going to bring a negative thinking. what we're saying to them is we have to find new ways. >> reporter: a new cuban-american attitude

supporting diplomatic relations would have been unthinkable a decade ago. now it is driven by the younger generation. a group that has pushed for enengagement with island >> i am a second generation cuban hch american myself. 37 years old. like many my age and those younger, we have lived our entire life under this policy and have seen it yield no results whatsoever. >> reporter: he says second generation cuban-americans are not naive about the castro leadership >> we are aware of the human rights record of the cuban government, the ongoing oppression that occurs in that country. we don't think that by trying to isolate them or by us continuing this policy of confrontation, we're going to in any way alleviate that. >> reporter: for the longest times those who wanted to see a change have kept silent. the establishment voices in the community have long held sway. obama's bold move has helped

change all that in july al jazeera's dell walter spoke to the u.s. cuba trade and economic council. he spoke about the implications of diplomacy for businesses. he said why it was good news to the cuba for the u.s. had to wait for pay off >> the u.s. government will look at the embassy as a tool for democracy. the cuban government will look at the embassy as bait. presently, there is no question that the cuban government short-term, medium term is benefitting more than the u.s. over the long-term the united states the benefit as will cuba. for now cuba benefits because it is able to say that the risk of doing business with cuba is last because the u.s. government isn't perceived as an enemy. that's very important a number of u.s. businesses,

hotels, telecoms, all of them, auto maytive, are-- automotive lining up, doesn't a rising tide float all ships? >> potentially. the u.s. continues to have several laws and regulations that prohibit the type of business activity that most businesses want to do. so we're limited in what we can do. we are also limited by what the u.s. want the cuban businesses to do. they love the fact that there is a lot of energy and talk and press coverage about what the companies want to do. they are sable to say to companies in europe and in aasia and in the americas, the americans are ready to come in. you better get here before they do. that's ways happening. i go back to u.s. is really being used as bait right now because the u.s. companies can't

do everything they want to do and that is unalmost to change within obama's term in office. however, he is probably going to continue to expand commercially, economically and politically what he can do from a regularity standpoint unless there is an issue it has been just over a year since obama and castro say they will recommence ties. they meet regularly. reestablishing trade will happen more slowly. only congress can lift the u.s. economic embargo on cuba and cuba hasn't accepted the deals offered by american companies. race relations were frequent topic of both of our weekend segments. last february thomas drayton was joined by ebony magazine and another for discussion about

obama's historic presidency and about law enforcement agencies attitude towards african-americans. >> i think obama stirred up this notion of race in australia. 25% who were under the impression that racism didn't exist is still falling under the methodology that was created with the presence of a black president. what has happened is his presence sort of doesn't allow some people to have really deep conversations about race because of the de facto response when one questions racism is that there is a black president do you think we're talking about race more now than 10 years ago? >> i think the space has been created for us to have critical conversations about race. it has always existed. the conversation about race has always been persistent. people talk about the birds and the bees first as they come of age. in other communities we talk about how to deal with police and the criminal justice system.

the conversations have always existed. they are more critical now than they were before because of platforms like social media and more avenues for the gathering of young people. now what was happening in the dark is now coming to light. what is happening not more conversations but the conversations that have been happening are more advise able do you think obama has made it more challenging for african-americans >> i think people to point to his presidency say that racism doesn't exist because of a black american in the highest office in the world has made difficulties. a racism, people who are so concerned that just one person, the 44th president after all these white guys has somehow represented such a sea change in the country that their station is now threatened as if, obviously, this means that white slavery is going to begin and now they're going to be a

complete total shift to power and they will give jobs all the black folks and money and entitlements and somehow they're threatened. it is completely devoid of sense, logic, reason the notion that one must lessen their race for the narrative of forcing or causing dysfunction in african-americans, this isn't a new narrative. it is like blame the person who was being targeted for that's race. the ketch about maybe if you listened, it is not the same case. you talk about other populations as well. i think it is also important to note that this is also a response to police officers or those who think they are part of the criminal justice system. a case of a person who thought he was a police officer. the narrative is not - it is not

outside of the police killings that are recent. it is not about the police officer's per se. it is about folks who that police officer mentality which clues teachers, school principals. it clues anyone who comes in contact with african-american young people who believe that they are at the lowest form of humanity and feel like they have power just because they're interacting with them the government does not keep a registry of police shootings in the u.s. so it is difficult to say how many occurred in a year. a report found 965 in all last year. half of those killed were white. the research found that in cases where the victim was unarmed, two-thirds of those killed were black or lation. rising tensions between russia and the west has been a theme, impacting everything from the

war against i.s.i.l. to the u.s. presidential campaign. in september a deep canner look focused on russia's intervention in the syrian civil war and the fight against i.s.i.l. some background after which an introduction of the evening's guest >> reporter: russia's decision to deploy fighting jets to syria is the latest military move putting washington on edge >> clearly the presence aircraft with air to air capacity as well as surface to air missiles raise serious questions. >> reporter: with the potential of air operations over syria, u.s. around russia agreed on friday to look for ways to avoid accidentally attacking each other. the two former cold war adverse res say they share a common common ally in syria. they saw bashar al-assad as the

driving force behind the country's devastating civil war. vladimir putin has said moscow's military support for bashar al-assad will continue. >> translation: we have supported the syrian government. i would like to say that. we have provided and will provide all the necessary military and technical support and we call on other countries to join us. >> reporter: russia's build up in syria comes months after moscow announced its new military doctrine naming nato as a top threat to russia. western officials say russia has been beefing up its presence in eastern ukraine. while still in a stand off with nato after annexing crimea last year. moscow has held military drills on its arctic islands. the new doctrine calls for more cooperation with countries such as independence i can't and china. for u.s. and nato allies,

russia's moves are seen aspro woktive and potentially-- as provocative and possibly disabling. -- destabilizing. even with the threat that this build up could stretch russia's budgets thin, the kremlin is making clear it won't cut corners on defense joining us to take a deeper look, our guests. we need both of you tonight. i don't know that anyone knows this for certain, but what could vladimir putin's motivation possibly be right now for getting more involved in syria and with bashar al-assad? >> it's all about keeping a toe hold in the middle east.

it's something that the u.s. has tried to keep russia out really since the second ward war, but he is now going to be successful to extend his influence and presence there. syria has been a long time russian ally and so that hasn't changed. they've always bought military equipment from them. this is a way for him to get legitimacy there. it is to keep bashar al-assad in power and extend the civil war as opposed to shortening it what value does the bashar al-assad regime have for vladimir putin? >> i certainly agree with mike's earlier comments. of course this is about increasing russia's influence in the middle east and keeping the u.s. out of the region. of course this is about bolstering bashar al-assad and so forth. i would also add to that. this is also about deflecting from the cue crane crisis at

putin's own making. he is expected to make a speech at the end of the month where he is going to focus on terrorism. he is expected to talk about assembling some kind of coalition that he is doing to fight i.s.i.s. and other forms of global terror. however, what this does is it gains international legitimacy. essentially putin is trying to say we may have our differences, we have greater enemy we have to fight,isise and i.s.i.l. groups. they're against all of us. we need to focus on that when it comes to i.s.i.s. or i.s.i.l., whichever you choose to call it, is he all talk or could he possibly have a valid point? could he possibly be independent in joining the coalition to join i.s.i.l. but, of course, the united states happens to be part tew it? >> i certainly think russia has a real interest in fighting global terror. russia has some of its own

citizens have joined i.s.i.l. to fight in syria and iraq. the problem is russia's actions also show that they're not really interested in fighting this, this there is some zero game that bashar al-assad wants to play is more porn the global terror the speech that was referred to took place two weeks later. making his first visit to the u.n. ai decade putin thrashed out. >> translation: we think it is an enormous state to cooperate with syria and armed forces and fighting terrorism face-to-face. we should acknowledge that no-one but president bashar al-assad's armed forces and group's militia are truly fighting the islamic state and other terrorists organizations in syria russia has worked with the west on some issues, such as

iran nuclear talks. it is a sign of how poor relations have come that the last presidential debate some candidates threatened russia but others said they would refuse to talk to putin if elected. a focus will continue into the new year as fighting rages on in other countries. in march president obama announced plans to keep american troops in afghanistan until 2016. new afghan leader was concerned about signs of i.s.i.l. activity in the country. he visited the u.s. in march to discuss the issue. on the eve of that visit thomas drayton spoke with mike lions and matthew rosenburg. >> violence is on the rise there and i think that's why you've got general campbell saying that we've got to possibly slow down this redeployment back to the united states. he went to afghanistan early last year, took over that job,

was the chief of staff of the army, took over the job with be some foresight knowing that trying to pull out by 2016 would not be a good idea. i think we're setting that stage right now to possibly see u.s. forces there beyond 2016 and beyond this term. a lot of it has to do with the president wants. if heap wants u.s. forces there, then our president can say this is what this president wants to do-- if he wants. taking half the troops out, you're removing half the infrastructure and capability. the general can is concerned about the situation deteriorating without the required help that we can give them the talks between presidents obama and gaanhi continued. president obama has repeated his commitment to avoiding "an endless war", but the decision to stay hasn't been without

consequences. six u.s. soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in afghanistan. still ahead, a top syrian opposition leader is killed. how will it affect the fighters to be freed from camps. we take a look at the impact the group has had and what may be in sphere for next year. -- store for next year. t year.

a top syrian rebel group is blaming russia for the death of its leader. zahran alloush was killed in an air strike targeting the headquarters of rebel group

jaysh al-islam. rebel sources alleged that russia fired at least ten missiles at its secret headquarters. earlier we spoke with our daughter-in-lawing cal contributor-- digital. >> the russians and the syrians or together killed zahran alloush because they don't want that powerful credible leader who is willing to engage diplomatically. they don't want that strong syrian based opposition group to gain ground. by killing the leader they think they can knock out the whole group. that again remains to be seen the rebel leader's death has also delayed a u.n. brokered evacuation of fighters from damascus. they were to be taken around the refugee camp to raqqa. a watchdog group is saying there is no secure route for the fighters to travel on. a year and a half ago an i.s.i.l. declared a caliphate.

in 2015 it has been a year of setbacks for the group. al jazeera national security correspondent looks back at the fight against i.s.i.l. in 2015 and what may lie ahead next year. >> reporter: 2015 end with a significant victory in the methodical u.s.-led campaign to push i.s.i.l. out the large expanses of northern syria and iraq it has held since last year. in ramadi u.s. trained security forces acquitted themselves well. it was captured by i.s.i.l. in may. it is the latest i.s.i.l. defeat in a year that saw the group lose 40% of the territory it once controlled in iraq and about 5 mrs of what it held in syria. even where it still holds way president obama argues it can't advance or reposition >> they know if they mask their forces we will wipe them out. since this summer i.s.i.l. has

not had a single successful major offensive operation on the ground in either syria or iraq. >> reporter: mere are some of the key pentagon numbers that-- here. almost 9,000 air strikes have destroyed 16 thousands targets and killed an estimated 23,000 i.s.i.l. fighters. >> we're killing terrorists every day by the hundreds. that's reducing the threat. that's the business we're in here. our business has been very good. >> reporter: a long list of i.s.i.l. leaders in 201 ah, senior leader and no.2. >> the point is i.s.i.l. leaders cannot hide and our message to them is it's simple, you are next. >> reporter: so far an average of 11 million dollars daily since 2014 is used to this. a man killed in a raid conducted

with kurdish troops in iraq that treat 70 people. if you want to know what to expect in 016, look for mr raids with u.s. troops in a direct combat role on the ground targeting high individuals. -- more raids >> we won't hold back in open opportunistic attacks on i.s.i.l. >> reporter: despite the progress, 2015 was also marked by an increasing frustration in congress that i.s.i.l. isn't being defeated more quickly >> they are not giants. >> reporter: the most ardent speaker was the general. >> more than one year into the campaign against i.s.i.l. it is impossible to assert that i.s.i.l. is losing and that we

are winning. if you're not winning in this kind of warfare, you are losing. stale mate is not success police in serbia have arrested more than 80 people in a major crack down on corruption. among them the former head of the government anti corruption agency, al jazeera's has more >> reporter: this was one of the largest police operations in serbia in decades. an investigation in these cases has been ongoing since 2004 up to the present day. police is talking of 20 cases related to the corruption, takely talking abuse of power, money laundering and taking bribes and public procurement. one of the arrest is businessman suspected of fraud with large bank loans. he took some 10 million euros from state owned banks and never returned. another suspected of

irregularities with land and building purchasess which led to her personal gains. another former minister of agory culture who is high position member of opposition democratic party which was ruling party until 2012. he is charged with abuse of office during his term. police say the preparation of the investigation, the gathering of evidence was long and thorough so that it would stand in any potential future court cases. these arrests come two weeks after serbia held succession talks with the union chine-- china is expelling a journalist, a writer from the french magazine. she disagreed with the government's comparison of violence amongst chinese to the attacks in paris. the foreign minister says her words could embolden terrorists.

she said that is absurd. she is the first journalist to be expelled from china since melissa chan in 2012. six months ago today the supreme court legalized same sex marriage. they're running into legal and insurance road blocks. many health providers will not provide infer tilt treatment for these people. >> first comes love and marriage and then baby carriage. >> reporter: that was the dream for this couple, but they never could have guessed on their wedding day it would cost them more than $22,000 to have a child. >> i felt like it put a burden on us not only financially but emotionally. >> reporter: jill and sarah tried to get pregnant using a sperm donor and treatment that is covered by their insurer united health care >> we had the procedure done and then a week later we got a

letter from the insurance company saying it wasn't going to be covered >> reporter: the insurance company denied them pause jill could not prove she could not get pregnant by unprotected sexual intercourse for six months. >> i was flabergasted. >> we just wanted to start a family i feel to have someone dictate your future in that way is completely unfair. their definition of infer tility doesn't meet their criteria. >> reporter: the united health policy is not unique. other companies say they have the same requirements. they go by the legal definition of infertility. it is the result of a disease of the male or female reproductive tract which prevents the conception of a child or the ability to carry a beg frohn see to deliver air. civil libertys attorney-general bobby hoxson says companies need

to ex-planned that definition >> you have an opposite sex couple where a man has no sperm count or low sperm count and they will never be able to con seek without assistance and procedures. then you have the same sex couple, two women, wants to conceive a child and cannot do it without assistance and procedures. those two couples should be acknowledged as in the same position. >> reporter: according to the infertility group resolve across the u.s. 15 statesman date some form of infertility coverage but only two have passed laws to ensure same sex couples and single women are also covered. they want to see that expanded nationwide. their petition on change.org has gathered over 15,000 signatures >> it is awful that anyone should have to go through this. yes, we had to, but i would hate

to see anyone else do it. we want to make a change. >> reporter: after 18 months of treatments, jill is now pregnant. >> i tried. >> you sink to the ground. it's bad news. then she was like, no, it's all happy tears >> reporter: a baby carriage ask on the way, but with the costly burden more to come here on al jazeera america

scientists in london with working on tools that could perform safer surgery inside the womb. jessica baldwin has more

>> reporter: a healthy you will extra sound for mother. birth defects can be seen as early as 12 weeks. when scans highlight a problem, there are few options. open the mother up and perform surgery on the foetus, highly dangerous and leaving the mother unable to have more children, or in certain cases perform keyhole surgery. scientists in london are designing tools to increase the options and allow applicanted by vital surgery on unborn babies. -- complicated. >> this will be less invasively earlier in pregnancy and have a better long-term outcome for the babies that we treat >> reporter: surgery to prepare holes in the heart or where the spinal cord goes outside the baby's body are often too risky to contemplate. surgeons will usually only operate when there's a real threat that the baby or babies will die.

already some wound surgery takes place. for instance, this procedure to balance the blood and nutrients between two swines. doctor say-- twins. doctor say there is much more they could do with the right tools. they're being designed here at the university college in london. it is a seven year 17 million dollar project funded by the british government and the welcome trust. more proceed toe types and further research is ahead, but one day a tiny flexible probe will go through the mother's skin and into the ute rouse. it will shall - uterus. it will carry an scalpal and camera. doctors have to rely on cameras to see what they're doing. the challenge is even greater because of the tiny space and poor visibility. one wrong move can damage the unborn baby. >> you've got a lot of challenging things happening around and you need to be able

not only to take care of the foetus but also take care of the mum. so it does make the environment far more challenging and the tools we have to use have to be as small as possible. >> reporter: robotics to compensate for uninsteady hands and others automatic coming together-- all coming together ports in california are undergoing a supervise sized test as the largest container ship to arrive in america arrived today. the ship is longer than the empire state building is tall. it is 1300 feet long and 177 feet wide. it can carry up to 18,000 containers. thanks for joining us. stay tuned for more news from our colleagues in doha. our colleagues in doha. have a great night.

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the evacuation of opposition sites from a refugee camp is on hold due to an opposition leader killed in an air strike. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. coming up in the next half hour. 160,000 people are forced from their homes across fourth south american countries as rivers swell to their highest level in a century. a culture of complacency. japan is accused of tolerating child exploitation.