Our big adventure (March '19)

Married 6 years and together 8 years and we'd never been pregnant, after 2 years of marriage our GP flagged whether we wanted children and that's when the alarm bells started ringing because we'd never been pregnant, and so we ended up in the process of tests and eventually treatments. IUI and IVF were ruled out and we could start straight away with ICSI. Full of courage and not knowing any better, we started our first process in the Netherlands, which went completely wrong and ended in overstimulation, an overdose of hormones, and my entire body in chaos.

After a break we still started our second attempt, this time it went a bit better and we had fertilized eggs, two even, so happy that it hadn't been for nothing, except my body wasn't cooperating, basically almost chronically ill, every flu got me too, and my body just couldn't bounce back, which resulted in no pregnancy, something I'd already felt coming beforehand.

After that we decided to take a break and first get my body back in order, which meant I kept postponing our second transfer.. After another 2 years we still went back for a transfer, which again resulted in no pregnancy. We'd resigned ourselves to staying childless but the feeling kept gnawing because we still had one attempt left... But I couldn't do it anymore, it didn't feel right, and in the meantime I'd also somewhat made peace with it, even though the longing remained.... So I went looking for other clinics and ended up at Human First. I did research and brought up the idea with my husband, then with my father and with the GP, and then we contacted Human First. I had no idea what to expect at all, but after Evren got in touch with us we decided to go for it, and that's how our big adventure began.

Really strange actually, because I just felt that it would work out, regardless of the outcome. And so, after two good ultrasounds in Amsterdam, we went to Istanbul in March. My husband was a nervous wreck but our guide Dayon reassured my husband so well. Arriving at the hospital we didn't know what hit us; a completely different culture, but it felt good. The check-ups went very discreetly and everything looked good, I felt good too, which was actually my biggest fear, that I'd get sick again from the hormones, but between check-ups we also got to enjoy Istanbul. Doctor Cem kept a close eye on me physically, it was possible I'd get a retrieval but no transfer because my belly would swell up too much, which wouldn't be good for the pregnancy, so that was a bit nerve-wracking, but because they reassured you so much it just felt fine. After a few days we could come back to the clinic and it turned out I had a lot of eggs, so blood had to be drawn to check whether I had overstimulation, I was so scared I'd have to stop again, but our prayers were answered and that evening we got the call that the treatment would continue!

Finally the day came for the retrieval, my belly was so swollen it almost burst and I suffered a lot from that, but the result made up for it. 21 eggs were removed. After 2 days of taking it easy in bed, we got word that we had 11 fertilized eggs, which still needed to develop further, but the outlook was promising and we got a transfer. After the transfer we flew straight back to the Netherlands and then the waiting days began. And sure enough, after those terrible waiting days, we're pregnant! As I write this we're 36 weeks pregnant and 7 years married and I feel absolutely great.

I'd recommend Human First to everyone, you're treated so well and the doctors are true specialists, they treat you as a human being, so discreetly and skillfully, and that gives you a good feeling too, if the treatment hadn't worked I would definitely have gone back. Team Human First, thank you!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

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