A Story of Hope and the Birth of a Healthy Baby
Hello, I’m Najwa from Qatar, 43 years old, and my husband is 33. Today, I want to share my experience with in vitro fertilization (IVF) in detail, a journey filled with hope and anxiety—feelings that are hard to describe for those who haven’t lived them—but it was all worth the effort.
I underwent several IVF cycles in Qatar using my own eggs, but unfortunately, none were successful. I decided to travel to Iran for treatment. Although I know a little Persian, I preferred to hire an experienced agency to make things easier. I contacted “Seyf MadTour,” and Sarah was the one who answered my call. My relationship with her lasted nearly a year, during which I traveled to Iran once for tests.
The doctor confirmed that I needed to use a donor egg due to the poor quality of my eggs. While this process is prohibited in Qatar, it is legal in Iran.
My husband and I decided to try another cycle using my eggs, and if that didn’t work, we would turn to donor eggs.
Despite my busy work schedule, I took a short two-week leave to travel to Iran for the egg retrieval, but unfortunately, no embryos were formed. The doctor informed me that my eggs were of very poor quality and that the only solution was to use donor eggs.
Although my husband initially refused, Sarah was able to convince him to agree to the procedure. He believed that this process was forbidden.
Sarah explained to my husband that the egg donor was a divorced woman, and a temporary marriage contract would be made to ensure the embryos were permissible from an Islamic perspective. My husband consulted his religious authority and, after confirming this issue, agreed.
Sarah proposed two options: the first was to stay in Iran for a month until a suitable egg donor was found matching our blood types; the second was to return to our country and come back again on the embryo formation day for my husband to provide a sperm sample.
The second option was the best for us. My husband and I returned to Iran on the egg retrieval day for embryo formation and then went back to Qatar. I also wanted to select the gender of the embryos, a process that takes about 15 to 20 days. I preferred returning to my country to complete this process while taking the prescribed medications, then return again in the middle of the cycle for the embryo transfer.
Fifteen embryos were formed, and we were able to determine the gender of nine of them: three male and six female. The doctor transferred two male embryos into my uterus.
Despite the doctor’s advice to avoid stress and wait 16 days for the pregnancy test, I didn’t follow her instructions. I returned to work two days later and took a home pregnancy test after a week, which came back negative, increasing my anxiety.
I contacted Sarah, who assured me that pregnancy wouldn’t show up after just a week. Despite her advice, I couldn’t wait and took another test two days later. When that result was also negative, I decided to stop taking the medications without consulting the doctor.
I called Sarah again to let her know I wanted to return for another embryo transfer. Sarah agreed to do this on the condition that I would follow her instructions this time. I promised Sarah that I wouldn’t test for pregnancy before the sixteenth day, and I would strictly adhere to the diet and medications prescribed.
In this cycle, I had only one male embryo. The doctor suggested the possibility of transferring another embryo whose gender hadn’t been determined. I decided to transfer only the male embryo and followed Sarah’s advice to the end. I took a beta test on the eighteenth day instead of the sixteenth, and thankfully, the result was positive. I repeated the test three days later, and the results were good.
I experienced some bleeding 25 days after the embryo transfer. I contacted Sarah to consult the doctor, who prescribed two progesterone injections in addition to a daily suppository. I was monitored by both the Iranian doctor and another doctor in Qatar for 35 days.
The baby’s heart formed, and everything went smoothly until his safe birth after nine months. Thank God, we were blessed with a healthy boy as we wished, and he is now two months old. I am eagerly waiting for a year to pass so I can return and have a girl embryo transferred.
If you are interested in learning more about infertility treatment options in Iran, you can read our comprehensive guide on infertility treatment techniques in Iran, which reviews the most important medical centers, procedures, and expected costs.
