Success story 10
We had a birthday party just recently. Our twins celebrated their first birthday. It was a great family party and it was something very special indeed — at least for us.
We had stopped believing that we would ever be able to celebrate a kid’s birthday party at all. After it had become clear that we wouldn’t be able to conceive the natural way, a long, difficult and expensive journey of hope and disappointment began. IVI, ICSI, TESE, domestic adoption, adoption in a foreign country, sperm cell donation. We must have tried every possible option available in Germany. The disappointment we experienced when a promising avenue proved to be a dead end was the worst. Sometimes we thought our wish to have children simply wasn’t realistic and tried to adjust to a life without kids. But those were futile attempts. Some years later, we were overwhelmed by an even stronger wish for parenthood.
Someone recommended a fertility clinic in Germany. We went there with renewed hope. Perhaps we should try some more treatment cycles of IVF? The physician took a frustratingly open approach. He told us that even though he’d be able to earn loads of money, S. still wouldn’t get pregnant. Given our situation – another doctor once had said that we were like the lame meeting the blind – the odds of getting pregnant were zero. So, we were disappointed yet again. But this doctor also gave us some advice: he told us to go look for some information about fertility treatment with donated eggs and mentioned that there were some interesting forums on the Internet!
Up to that point, we’d actually been so naive that we didn’t realize such an option even existed. We surfed on the Internet for days. The reports based on first-hand, personal experience motivated us to get in touch with several infertility clinics in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic. We sent e-mail messages and filled in contact forms.
The very next day, our phone rang. Dr. Olga Zaytseff from St. Petersburg was on the line. At first, we were almost speechless, but soon we had a long and intense conversation on the phone, which raised our hopes. Might there be a chance for us after all? A highly positive report on the Internet and especially Dr. Zaytseff’s marvelous personal reaction convinced us to make an appointment for an initial consultation in St. Petersburg.
One month later, we already had our first meeting in Dr. Zaytseff’s office. During our conversation Dr. Zaytseff once again proved to be very open and friendly and at the same time highly competent, focused and purposeful. We felt very comfortable right from the beginning.
Dr. Zaytseff arranged for several tests to be done. A new spermiogram unfortunately confirmed the negative findings. After a detailed consultation in which we talked about options, chances and risks, she handed us an exact timetable in preparation of an embryo donation and as we were leaving she said “I’ll get you pregnant”!
Our fertility specialist in Germany took over the preparation synchronizing the menstrual cycles to build up the uterine lining according to Dr. Zaytseff’s plan. Three months after our initial consultation we were back in St. Petersburg.
One more examination and then the big day dawned. In a calm and relaxed atmosphere with soft music playing in the background, Dr. Zaytseff transferred two embryos in the blastocyst stage. It was nothing spectacular at all and that was supposed to be the turning point in our lives?
The most difficult time started when we were back home again, because a pregnancy rnd_test could be done only ten days after the embryo transfer! Then we got the results of the blood rnd_test: the HCG was really high, almost double the normal level at this stage of pregnancy. Could it be twins? Dr. Zaytseff called us; she was just as happy and excited about the results as we were! The ultrasound scan done a week later was all the proof we needed: we were indeed expecting twins.
Our two little princes have celebrated their first birthday by now and we are counting our blessings every single day. Sending an e-mail to St. Petersburg with the contact form was the most important step in totally turning our lives around.
We are happy that we took this step and we are happy that we chose Dr. Zaytseff to be our doctor. She guided us and took excellent care of us from the initial consultation right through to the embryo transfer and even later during the entire pregnancy as well. If there were any problems, like bleeding for example, we could get hold of her 24 hours a day. She answered all our questions, she is highly qualified, competent and friendly and in addition, she speaks German fluently.
The laughter of our two little princes is worth all the past strain and stress and we are reminded of that at least 100 times a day!
Story translated from German