First time IVF, straight to Turkey after all

How much we enjoyed reading all the experiences about Human First before we started this big adventure ourselves. I hope our experience can also contribute to someone else who is going to take the step to try, together with Human First, to make the biggest wish there is come true.

We had been trying to get pregnant for eight years. Our GP had already diagnosed PCOS at one point, but after that I secretly hoped that we would still manage to get pregnant without a medical process. Eventually a miscarriage in 2022 brought the painful realization that it really wasn't going to be as easy as we saw with so many people around us. Our first contact with a Dutch hospital didn't go well. I felt like just another figure squeezed into a box I might not even fit in at all. Would our wish then never come true? We went looking for alternatives with a lot of doubt, because we hadn't yet taken any real steps in the Netherlands. Would they even want to help us? Did we even belong here? Don't other people who have already gone through so much in the Netherlands have much more right to this?

We had a great conversation with Evren from Human First, and pretty soon after that we were on the plane to Istanbul. We had no experience at all with fertility treatments and don't speak the language. At the first two appointments at the Turkish hospital we did feel a small language barrier, despite having a host present. We'd definitely recommend a host to everyone too. We shared this feeling with Evren, and she did everything she could to make sure we were guided as well as possible and given clear explanations about the treatments. From that moment on, all contact with dr. Cem went really smoothly. With dr. Cem you're not just another number, the way it felt for me here in the Netherlands. Especially during the first exams I felt vulnerable and small, but everyone was incredibly kind and tried to put me at ease. The day of the egg retrieval I found really nerve-wracking. Looking back this wasn't necessary at all, because I didn't feel a thing from the retrieval. After a few days we were told how many embryos there were, and after five days one of them was transferred back and four were frozen. Now I'm already past the halfway point of my pregnancy and we're expecting a daughter.

We will be forever grateful to Human First and dr. Cem and his team. Also not unimportant - Istanbul is a beautiful city where no one has to be bored. Great food, lovely people and so much to experience.

November 2023, gave birth to a daughter

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