A wish that comes true after 6 years..

A wish that comes true after 6 years..

Where do I even begin.. My husband and I happily got married in 2017, and we both knew right away that we wanted children, but unfortunately that wasn't a given, because after about a year and a half I was referred straight to a fertility clinic.

Full of hope I went to the clinic in Hengelo in 2018, and first had to go through all kinds of tests. Fortunately we were told there were no problems and nothing serious was found in either of us. Still, you start wondering why it's not happening then.. it felt like time flew by, and after every failed attempt full of grief I picked myself back up and went for another attempt, hoping it would work.. after about 7 transfers with IVF my body was exhausted, and I eventually decided to take a break and enjoy life, working here and there in between.

At the time I worked at Prenatal, and one afternoon a nice customer walked in who needed some items, and that's how we suddenly got talking. She said she was pregnant with twins, but that it took years before she got pregnant.. so I spontaneously told her briefly that I'd already been trying for 2 and a half years. She immediately gave me a hug and Humanfirst's details and Evren's phone number. She made it clear to me that I shouldn't waste my time here and should go straight to Turkey for treatment. After about a month I called Evren at Humanfirst.. wow! What a warm, experienced woman who answers all your questions and immediately makes you feel like you really matter. Together with Evren we agreed to still try my last embryos in the Netherlands first, because who knows, maybe it would work here.. And it was true.. because you don't want to go through an egg retrieval again right away.. this dream felt like it kept dragging on longer and longer for me. I wasn't heard in the Netherlands, and every time they got my hopes up only to disappoint me.

Because I was completely done with waiting so long and being disappointed every time in the Netherlands, I took my embryos to a clinic in Germany to have them transferred. Unfortunately after 2 years and a number of miscarriages I was so incredibly sad that I had to take another break.. well, my sister and mother saw it differently. They said don't give up, go after it, and then my sister brought up whether I could call Evren again to just start IVF in Turkey. That evening, with tears in my eyes, I messaged Evren, because it was already too late to call. Evren replied within 10 minutes asking if I had time to call tomorrow. Yes of course I did! I was truly amazed at how quickly Evren had responded. On the phone she immediately knew who I was too. After the call we made a plan right away for the first steps, and Evren explained everything step by step.. wow, I suddenly had such a good feeling with butterflies in my stomach.. hope again that our dream would come true. In tears I told Evren how much I wanted to fill my empty nursery.. Evren comforted me throughout the entire call and gave me more hope.

July 2023 our adventure began in the Netherlands with the medication, and after the follicle checks, it was time to pack for Turkey. Evren had explained everything neatly and sent everything by email about what we could expect there, step by step. It all went really smoothly. I couldn't wait.. on August 6th we were on the plane, on our way to make our dream come true. Together with my husband we had chosen the 10-day trip. It's funny to say, but I was really looking forward to it.

Once we arrived in Istanbul, a wonderful taxi took us to our hotel. In the Netherlands I always dreaded going in and out of the hospital again.. but here it was a completely different feeling. I felt like I was really on vacation, and I also wanted to explore Istanbul. My husband and I were dropped off neatly at our hotel. The staff were all very kind too. We decided to rest that day and maybe go eat somewhere in the evening, because the next morning we had an appointment with Dr Cem Demirel.

In the morning we woke up rested and I took my medication. Of course, we had also chosen to have support, since neither of us speaks Turkish. I was glad to hear that the doctor himself speaks fluent English! That was just an extra bonus. After breakfast we were picked up again by a luxury taxi to Acibadem Hospital. Once we got out of the taxi, we went inside and saw Hatice (our guide for the whole process). She came across as immediately positive and super sweet to me. She gave us a reassuring feeling, so much so that I almost forgot I was in a hospital. She helped us with all the paperwork and the translation of course. I'm so grateful to Hatice, because day by day I saw that she was truly a little rainbow for me during the treatment. She held my hand, and if anything came up she immediately came to help.

During the conversation with Dr Cem Demirel I was full of amazement - after answering all his questions, he immediately knew how to establish my diagnosis. Dr Cem indicated that my PCOS was the main culprit here, and that they could flip that switch for me. During the conversation I also mentioned that I had done my own research and changed my eating pattern and took ovasitol every day, and had lost 18 kilos in total as a result. Dr Cem said that this was really an advantage for me, so the success rate would go up more in my case.

After the conversation my follicles were measured, and I was told I had 3 more days of injections before the egg retrieval would take place, wow, exciting! I kept getting a little closer each time.. after the exam, I was also able to have blood drawn right away, since they kept track of my progesterone levels this way, which is important for the transfer. I couldn't believe how professionally Dr Cem Demirel's team worked.. It was a completely different feeling for me than the fertility treatments in the Netherlands. I really felt good and reassured.

The day of the egg retrieval was also our wedding anniversary.. I felt rested and I was completely ready for it. The retrieval went really well. The day after, our guide updated us on our embryos and their development.. everything looked positive. Then Dr Cem told us that the transfer would take place on August 16th.. I can't put my feelings into words.. when the day arrived, after a short while Dr Cem came in with really good news that of the 9 embryos, 4 embryos had achieved a score of 5AA. He put a hand on my shoulder and said right away, "with a score like that, you'll get pregnant." I looked straight at my husband and Hatice and just got goosebumps from his words.. I hadn't heard anything like that in years during my treatments. Dr Cem was very sure of himself, and I understood he doesn't say this to his patients lightly.. In my case he found no reason at all why it wouldn't work this time. I had tears of happiness at that moment. The transfer went smoothly and Hatice helped me with everything along the way.. and that was that - the next day we flew back to the Netherlands and the waiting began for us.. I don't know how to describe this, but I left everything up to god.. I had to fight and pray for this for 6 years.. after 8 days I called my mother and told her how much I wanted to test whether it had worked.. My mother started laughing and said, well okay, just check if there's a second line and let me know right away.. So I quickly tested with morning urine and after a few minutes I looked at my test.. I really thought I was dreaming, but there were two very clear lines!!!!! I quickly showed my mother and she immediately started crying with happiness, and then I started crying too.. still fearful given the previous miscarriages.. full of hope, to be sure, I had blood drawn for HCG on day 14.. the GP called and said, congratulations, it has doubled nicely and you are PREGNANT!! For the first time I heard such words.. I couldn't hold back my tears of joy. My husband and I are so happy.. it really can't be described in words.

At the first ultrasound we saw a beautiful beating heart. Everything is going well and right now I am 31+4 weeks pregnant with our baby girl. Due date May 9th, 2024.

On our behalf I first want to thank Evren for all her effort, and the entire team of Dr Cem Demirel, and of course not forgetting Hatice, our guide. You made our dream come true.. I am grateful to you for the rest of my life.

Love,

D & N

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