Years stuck in the medical mill (Mar 2022)

Dear all

I'd like to share our experience with Human First in Turkey. Like many couples with fertility problems, we too spent years stuck in the mill of Dutch healthcare. We've known since 2016 that getting pregnant naturally just isn't in the cards for us, unfortunately. Our journey towards a child began not long after that.

We started with 6 rounds of IUI treatment in the Netherlands, which had no real chance. We got injections and a calendar with dates, nothing more; our blood values weren't measured and the treatment was always with a different resident doctor. We didn't feel like this was the right treatment for us, so after 6 attempts we closed that chapter.

After that we went for IVF in the Netherlands. The appointment was made and we had hope, but that hope already dropped during the first conversation. We absolutely did not feel at ease, but figured the doctors knew what they were doing, so we went ahead with the treatment anyway. The egg retrieval was awful, without any anesthesia. The transfers were also very painful. Within 3 minutes we were back outside again, with no measurements. After 3 transfers and three disappointments we'd had enough. I decided to look further into other options and that's how I ended up at Human First. The conversation with Evren convinced us to try it, even though it's in another country. Something in us just said this was the right path for us.

We started the process. Evren helped us with everything. The blood tests, the right values and the medication were sent to our home. Evren was also very closely involved with all the egg measurements. She forwarded them straight to prof dr. Cem Demirel. It was a completely different experience than what we'd had in the Netherlands.

Our departure date had by then arrived, and we headed to Turkey with healthy nerves. The next day our first appointment was already scheduled. By then we were also already in touch with our host in Istanbul (what a champion she is, I must say). She was already waiting for us in the hall. She put us at ease and took us to the fertility department. There we met a team of very kind and friendly nurses. We had our blood values measured again. And then the big moment arrived: we went to see the professor. Our host guided us to him. After being used to only speaking with resident doctors in the Netherlands, this was something else entirely. What presence he had. He really put us at ease. After he personally measured the eggs himself, he gave us a new appointment for another measurement 2 days later. We weren't tense anymore, more relaxed actually. We dove into the city and enjoyed everything Istanbul has to offer. 2 days later we went back to the hospital and once again our host was there. She guided us to the department again. Our blood values were measured again by the nurses, which didn't happen in the Netherlands, and we went to see the professor again. There we had more measurements done. The doctor felt we only needed to come back one more time regarding the growth of the eggs. What a luxury that was, I must say. So much personal attention.

Our host gave us some nice tips for shopping in Istanbul, which we gladly took. The next time we went to the hospital again, and once again our host was waiting for us with a smile.

Our blood values were measured again and we went to see the professor again for the follicle measurements.

He told us they'd grown nicely and felt it was time for an egg retrieval appointment. We were quite dreading the retrieval because of previous experiences in the Netherlands without anesthesia, but they put us very much at ease. The retrieval was performed by the professor himself under anesthesia. After the retrieval we both got something to eat, and the nurses and our host put us at ease. We were allowed to rest in the room.

That day we stayed comfortably at our hotel. 5 days later we had the transfer - according to the professor they were beautiful blastocyst embryos. Which gave us even more confidence ourselves.

The transfer was also done by the professor himself, and we were given the chance to rest in the room afterward - in the Netherlands we had to leave right away after the transfer. We said goodbye to the team and our host and left for the Netherlands again the next day. The waiting weeks were tough, we tried to keep ourselves busy with other things as much as possible. By then we already had various brands of pregnancy tests at home. The first test we did was positive right away, and after that we kept testing almost every day, we just couldn't believe it. Now we're parents of a beautiful baby boy.

We are eternally grateful to the Human First team for their guidance

Regards

M and A

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