Human First Can Guide You Through It (Apr 2016)

In March 2016, after 3 years of being in ICSI treatment at a Dutch hospital, my husband and I decided to continue our journey at the clinic in Turkey, Istanbul. At the Dutch hospital, my husband and I never felt taken seriously or treated personally. Multiple transfers with a lot of pain, and even a hysteroscopy with a lot of pain that was (initially without any anesthesia). After too much pain, the gynecologists decided to perform the hysteroscopy on me under full general anesthesia. After 3 years with no positive pregnancy result, largely due to fibroids blocking the uterus, and being treated by various gynecologists in training, my husband and I decided to continue our third attempt in Turkey.

A good colleague listened to my story. She told me that two very good friends of hers also wanted children and had gone through a similarly unpleasant experience at another hospital in the Netherlands. Through my colleague I got in touch with one of the couples, and she told me about her very good experience with Human First and her positive, wonderful experience in Turkey. With grateful enthusiasm and joy she told me that she and her husband got a positive pregnancy after their first IVF attempt in Turkey! They have a beautiful little son of about 2 years old. She proudly sent me photos of their son through the app. Years of unpleasant IVF treatment in the Netherlands hadn't gotten them a pregnancy, so they decided to try abroad. After hearing her experience and story, my husband and I were convinced to take a different approach to our wish for children and give it a try in Turkey too. The people around us asked out of concern: "Are you sure you want to do this? Being treated in a foreign country? What if they're not as good as in the Netherlands?" My husband and I have only one answer to that.

Our trip to Turkey was fantastically guided by Human First! I had wonderful phone conversations with Human First. All my questions were answered as well and expertly as possible. I was also put at ease. They explained clearly what the level of expertise in fertility care is like in Turkey, but also that there are no guarantees, and they didn't sugarcoat anything. That gave me a really good feeling about taking the step. The flight, the stay, and the schedule for the hormone treatment and all other information were worked out down to the last detail. On arrival at the clinic in Turkey we were also very well guided by the host and the head gynecologist! For a change, an actual gynecologist and not doctors in training. The host is trilingual and speaks excellent Dutch, Turkish and English, and on top of that she's a lovely person to be around. Without the host we definitely wouldn't have managed in Turkey! Our first appointment with the head gynecologist was very nerve-wracking. He examined me with an internal ultrasound and quickly concluded that the transfer would be quite difficult. He explained why and showed on the ultrasound that the fibroids were in the way and that the chance of an embryo implanting successfully was very small. The embryos had been rejected by the fibroids for the past three years. I looked at him, disappointed. He presented my husband and me with two options. Go ahead with the transfer anyway, with very little chance of success, or have the fibroids removed via laparoscopy, with a much higher chance of success. My husband and I discussed it and immediately decided to have the fibroids removed in Turkey. Throughout the whole process we were treated so well by the head gynecologist, the staff and the host. The host even stayed at the clinic with my husband during the operation. The laparoscopy was done under full general anesthesia and was performed very well by the head gynecologist. About 6 fibroids were removed! One of 6 and two of 3 centimeters inside the uterine cavity, plus small ones in the uterine wall! A uterus is roughly the size of a fist. The operation was recorded, and my husband and I got to watch it ourselves on DVD. It was quite shocking and emotional to see how big the fibroids were that came rolling out (they look just like eggs). By now I've pretty much fully recovered and I'm doing well! In three months we're going back to Turkey to continue the ICSI treatment! In Turkey that's actually possible after fibroid removal (laparoscopy)!

At the hospital in the Netherlands, more than 1.5 years ago, I already voiced my concerns and doubts about the fibroid in my uterus and asked whether it shouldn't be removed. The answer I got was that removing the fibroids would leave no chance of success for further ICSI treatment, and that it was better to leave the fibroid in place. As a layperson on the subject, and having become scared, I believed the story I was told. The transfers went ahead without a positive pregnancy result. The uterine lining was hard to see on the ultrasounds and difficult to measure, so I had to keep taking hormones to try to thicken the lining a bit more, often with little result, and the transfer kept getting delayed. At some point the transfers became somewhat painful and unpleasant. I pushed myself for a diagnostic hysteroscopy to determine the location of the fibroid (the gynecologists in training repeatedly spoke of a single fibroid, which is also what's in my medical report). The hysteroscopy was performed in August 2015. The gynecologists who performed it diagnosed that the fibroid was in the uterine wall and not in the uterine cavity, that my uterus looked normal, and that the transfers could simply continue. I was relieved, and so the next transfer took place in October 2015, again with a negative result and so again no pregnancy. That's when we decided to go to Turkey.

My husband and I wonder how exactly the hysteroscopy in the Netherlands was performed. Why did the gynecologists diagnose a single fibroid instead of multiple fibroids? Did they simply not see them? Why were my husband and I told that the fibroid they claim to have seen was in the uterine wall instead of the uterine cavity? On the DVD of the operation you can clearly see the large fibroids coming rolling out of the uterine cavity.

To women dealing with a fibroid or fibroids, I'd like to advise/recommend having them removed before it's too late and your entire uterus has to come out! Turkey has real expertise in removing fibroids and in fertility treatment. I've witnessed that myself. Human First can guide you through it.

Good luck, and greetings from a couple with a very positive experience from Turkey!

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