What happened inside a South Florida jail has captured national attention. For the first time, both parents involved in this extraordinary story are sharing their account.
Daisy Link, a 29-year-old inmate at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) in West Miami-Dade, made headlines after giving birth to a baby girl in June. The twist? She never met the father, fellow inmate Joan Depaz, in person.
“She’s a miracle baby, she’s a blessing,” Link shared.
Despite the circumstances, Link and Depaz, both facing murder charges, formed a romantic connection from separate cells.
An Unlikely Connection
The relationship started with conversations through the facility’s air conditioning vents, where the two inmates communicated for hours.
“You would knock on it and you can hear the people from the different floors. You would stand on the toilet actually to be able to talk to them.,” Link explained.
Depaz, just 23 years old, revealed his hopes for a child during one of their exchanges.
“I always really wanted to have a baby. And I’m not gonna get to do that for a really long time. So if I had to choose somebody, you know, it would be you. And she was like, ‘Yeah, we could do that,” he said.
With their futures uncertain, Link agreed, setting in motion an extraordinary plan.
A Plan Like No Other
Depaz described how they orchestrated the conception:
“I told her a way that one of my friends had showed me through the vent. Because the vents is like a L-shape, really. It drops right into my vent, from her room, she could throw a pen into the vent and it’ll land right into my vent.”
Using a makeshift line crafted from bedding, Depaz sent samples wrapped in Saran Wrap to Link, who then used a yeast infection applicator to inseminate herself.
“He would kind of like roll it up almost like a cigarette and he would attach it to the line that we had in the vent and I would pull it through. From there, I had placed it inside of, you know, the yeast infection applicators? I had placed it inside of there and then from there, yeah, I administered it,” Link recalled.
Amazingly, the method worked after just a few attempts.
Dr. Fernando Akerman, a fertility specialist, confirmed the possibility, though he emphasized the odds were slim.
“We estimate that probably their chances were less than five percent, but that is not to say that the chances were zero. So this is absolutely a case that is exceedingly unusual. To my knowledge I’ve never heard or read anything like this.” Akerman stated.
Life Amid Uncertainty
On June 19, Link gave birth to their daughter at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The baby now lives with Depaz’s mother, who is thrilled to be a first-time grandmother.
“She could be anything,” Link said with pride.
“I think that she’s gonna be something great.”
Meanwhile, Depaz described the attention he’s received: “Over here I’m like a celebrity.”
Though they are now held in separate jails, the couple continues to communicate via phone and video calls, staying connected with their daughter.
Unanswered Questions
The remarkable story has prompted an internal investigation by Miami-Dade Corrections. Officials are examining how this occurred under the watch of correctional officers.
For Link and Depaz, their “miracle baby” represents hope amid adversity, a testament to the human spirit’s resilience—even behind bars.
