Helen Dalglish, 54, from Glasgow, a woman who shared all her happiness for a very important milestone in her life. Always eager to become a mother, she started a journey that she never expected could last 25 years. That’s right.
From her hometown, the woman moved to Cyprus when she was very young and it was here that she started making attempts to get pregnant. After ascertaining that there were no structural problems, she started her journey first with intrauterine insemination and then with in vitro.
There were 21 attempts to conceive and, apart from the first one she had obtained through health care, they cost her almost £100,000. “It was financially, emotionally and physically devastating – she said – Every time the fertilization was not successful I felt bad, but then, after a few days, I told myself that I shouldn’t give up and that if I wanted a child I had to go forward with your head held high”. At the Daily record she told how the pregnancy finally completed swept 25 years of pain and sacrifices in one fell swoop, giving her new joy of living. “When I looked down and saw that bump growing I was like, ‘Am I dreaming?’ Even now, looking at my daughter, I can’t believe that she is a mom ”.
Helen moved to Cyprus when she was 20 and started trying for a baby with her then husband starting at 28. Tests carried out on the island revealed a potential problem with the positioning of the uterus, prompting the couple to return to Scotland, where they were diagnosed with “unexplained infertility”. Husband and wife, before switching to in vitro fertilization, underwent four intrauterine insemination procedures, in which sperm is placed directly into the uterus, but without success.
After about ten years of treatment, she sought advice from a Scottish infertility consultant who confirmed that her uterus was severely tilted, and explained that all previous embryo transfers had been virtually wasted. Since then she Helen has been pregnant three times but she suffered heartbreaking miscarriages between nine and ten weeks into the pregnancy. The woman then decided to try using donor eggs, but in this case too she had to suffer a defeat: although she had created 10 strong embryos, all of her died.
Helen, who meanwhile has a new partner, then returned to Cyprus, and it was here that she learned about the Dunya Fertility Center in Kyrenia. When she had now believed that she had lost all hope, one episode convinced her to try again. Her father, shortly before he died, had asked her mother what he could send her from heaven. The woman asked for a baby for her daughter, and so she Helen decided to try again. The couple’s first attempt failed when they genetically tested their embryos, but their second attempt left them stunned. A doctor had performed a trial transfer procedure to ensure they could access Helen’s uterus properly, and the couple received a positive pregnancy test by email two weeks later. “We broke down crying and screaming. My mom thought it was negative but they were tears of relief and happiness. I think my father had something to do with it.”
