Completely Complete (Feb 2014)

I'm incredibly happy that we chose IVF in Istanbul with Human First. I'd love to share our experience with you here, because I had a strong desire to have children together with my husband. I hope my story here can help/support you a little bit. I myself was 23 when I started thinking about IVF. Because it all took so long: my child turned 1, then 2, then 3, and still no little brother or sister. My husband, on the other hand, was a lot more relaxed about it than I was. He thought it would happen when it happens.

The doctor kept saying the same thing: you're still young, plenty of time, just keep trying. But I didn't want my first child to be much older than the next one. In short, I talked my husband into it. Human First called me right away after I signed up through the website. By pure coincidence I found the site through Google. I must have typed something like IVF abroad. Why did I want to go abroad? First of all, I thought, in the Netherlands they're already so slow, and my doctor won't refer me quickly given my age. Let alone if I wanted to go for IVF. Later, once I'd really scheduled all the appointments with Human First, I talked to my doctor about it here. She also said, are you sure about this, and have you weighed all the pros and cons. But there were more pros than cons. These days IVF has become the most normal thing, it's just that people don't like to talk about it. Because it usually means something isn't going smoothly for the man or the woman, or both. People tend to look at it negatively rather than positively.

But once I'd looked into everything, I thought okay, I'm probably going to struggle with injecting myself, but hey, you want a child, right??? Giving birth is ten times worse (maybe that depends). Evren spoke with me on the phone. This took a few months, because we always had to check our schedule for when it suited us best. Since we were going for the 17-day trip. From day 1 I kept notes of everything on my phone. It helped me therapeutically, and I never wanted to forget this experience in detail.

Dayon, our host, we met on the first day after our arrival. Such a sweet woman, I'll never forget her either. Everything was explained well, she helped me remember my injections. And if I had questions I could call her about it 24 hours a day. That's how reachable she was. Dr. Arzu was the one who checked me at every appointment, the appointments themselves were short. If you had questions you could ask them in English. Of course Dayon was there for extra explanation, but if you speak and understand English well, it's perfectly easy to follow.

They're very friendly at the hospital, our child came along to every appointment. Dayon and my husband waited calmly until I was done with my check-up on the growth of the eggs. That's how they knew whether I needed more Puregon or should continue, in order to prevent overstimulation.

When we didn't have appointments at the hospital we enjoyed our child and Istanbul. Every day we'd look at the map to decide where to go that day. Back and forth from the Asian side to the European side! It was all so beautiful.

At first I thought, "ugh, those injections, I'll never manage that," well, it turned out fine. Every evening, right on time, injected without any ouch!! In the meantime I really enjoyed Istanbul, what a beautiful city. Pretty busy traffic-wise, but truly a beautiful, cultural city! Plenty of delicious food to choose from there... Honestly, I mean it, now that I'm talking about it I just miss it!! The day before the retrieval I had a relaxing massage at the hotel, after my retrieval I didn't want to be touched. I felt too fragile :((( But after a day of lying comfortably in bed and a facial treatment I felt reborn. After the transfer I was a little disappointed because I thought all our fertilized eggs would survive all the way to day 5. Because by then it already felt like they were all my children. After the transfer I went to sleep early, since the next morning we'd be flying back. And then you just have to wait 2 weeks, well about 10 days at the earliest. In the end I had 15 eggs, of which 8 were mature, and of those 5 were fertilized, and 1 real trooper made it all the way to day 5 for the transfer.

My little blastocyst, what a miracle upon miracle, now already 14 weeks growing in my belly. Soon my 20-week ultrasound, exciting, but I've always worried and I probably always will. First I worried about the growth of the follicles, then the fertilization, then whether even one would survive at all. Then, will I have a miscarriage? Then, is it healthy? But that's of course because I'm a born mom: worrying about your kids. That's life, but still I enjoy every one of these moments of being a mom, and getting to become one again with the 2nd. Every child stays unique and special, don't you think?

Lots of strength to all the readers. I know for myself that I've read other people's experiences on the site more than once. Unfortunately I couldn't share every single detail, otherwise I'd have to write a whole book about Human First!! Go to Istanbul if you have the chance, they're truly amazing. In the future, if I can't have a third child naturally, I'll book with Human First without a second thought!!!

So glad you exist, without you I would have kept trying for years, and had years more of check-ups here. That alone would have made me depressed, so thank you for existing and for your service.

Greetings from the happiest little family!!!!!!! (which, thanks in part to you, is now complete)

February 2014

This story was translated from Dutch by our team. Read the original Dutch version →