"India will change your life forever” I’ve heard many people say, and it’s very true for my husband and me. We have had a very long journey of trying to build a family and we tried so many avenues, seeing the most renowned IVF specialists in Australia and abroad. After several heartbreaks and setbacks I knew that I needed to take another direction as I was not getting anywhere with the same methods. Late last year, following many consultations and yet another unsuccessful attempt, my specialist in Australia, a pioneer of IVF, asked me nonchalantly at the start of a consult what can I do for you? That was when I knew that this would be my last meeting here as just another cash cow in the IVF market place.
I started to research options on embryo adoption and was drawn to India. Working within the medical industry myself, I asked colleagues who had connections in India if they could recommend a specialist in Mumbai and Dr Malpani was the first choice. I jumped on my email right away and emailed the enquiry with a list of questions. To my surprise, I received a response overnight from Dr Malpani himself. I immediately took the response seriously and discussed with my husband. I had been to India several times before and had no hesitations in returning to attempt making our dreams come true. We had contemplated so many options, adoption was one of them but the waitlist in Australia is 5 years, the red tape long and confusingly with additional hindrances to couples with recent IVF treatment history.
Embryo adoption for me felt very natural and I had no second thoughts whatsoever. Dr Malpani said we could try with my eggs, they’re fine after seeing pictures, but I wanted to go with my initial plan. I would love this baby as my own, in my mind we all come from the same place and this child will be part of me and the universe. Due to a sudden change in work commitments we had to move faster than initially planned, and Dr Malpani advised he could accommodate our timeframe, so we booked our tickets and started planning.
We were going to be in India for 4 weeks so we decided to have a holiday, to relax and enjoy ourselves at the same time. We weren’t super organised, all we booked was one week at the Taj President Hotel which turned out to be a short walk from the clinic, and then booked the rest of the trip on the fly once we knew the required attendance dates. When we first met Dr Malpani, we could tell by his manner that he was an honest and a special person, a true specialist with a lot of experience, a warm heart and honest facts. My husband clicked with him straightaway because he asked him direct questions, while other specialists had barely acknowledged his presence during any process. The clinic was as I expected and I felt welcome and very comfortable there. The biggest difference of the care was that in India, the doctor will drive the treatment and the nurses are there to support him, whereas in Australia you see the specialist only a few times and the nurses are left to run the show. I really appreciated the attention to detail that Dr Malpani gave us, any questions we had he was always there to answer. We had a magical time in India, we travelled to Kerala several times and at all times we could still contact the clinic via email or phone. This time, after the transfer I was not precious like on previous attempts, I was off on a plane back to Kerala a few days later and walking around villages in the heat! I love being in India, the warmth and spirituality of the people, the food and the wonderful surprises it can give you.
When we arrived back to Australia is when the fun started, the 2WW. I was very pessimistic, I had low expectations from previous experiences so I never expected to get a positive result from my HPT, I almost didn’t do it. I emailed Dr Malpani the news and he asked me to keep testing every day to see if the line got darker, which it did. Then a series of blood tests followed which were all very good and again I couldn’t believe it, this had never happened before so my brain was in shock! When the time came to have the first ultrasound at 6 weeks, it was a magical moment and i thought i was dreaming when the sonographer showed us the heartbeat. I emailed Dr Malpani the pictures and he emailed me back to say enjoy your pregnancy, he was happy with everything.
Dr Malpani has never been too far during my pregnancy, every step of the way he has been there, I can’t thank him enough for caring about me and my baby. Several weeks later I had some bleeding and I thought it was all over, it happened to be a hematoma and besides the initial fright it never gave me any trouble, so I was then monitored every few weeks, which gave me the chance to see the baby growing which was amazing but I also found very nerve-wracking. At our 12 week scan we were told everything was going well and we got to see the baby looking like a real baby now! I started to see an obstetrician in Australia but Dr Malpani was still my go-to person for extra support, even my OB would ask me, what did your Dr in India say? I thank God every day that I was given the opportunity to go to India and meet Dr Malpani, my life will never be the same. Now we watch my tummy grow every day and I feel so blessed every time i touch my belly and feel the life growing inside me. We plan to return to India with our child one day so that we can complete our circle of life and say thank you to a land so holy and giving.
Such an inspiring story... i am going through my 2WW and reading dr malpani's blog to fill my time... very informative n gave me such assurance... thank you
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