Parents pay it forward to help others

Infertility is an arduous, complicated journey and one which brings with it extreme lows of disappointment. It is not only an emotional baggage for couples who've been longing for a child for several years, but the treatment cost that also takes a toll.

Understanding the trauma and stress couples maybe going through, Dr. Pankaj Shrivastav, medical director of Conceive, The Gynaecology & Fertility Hospital and his 40 member staff have launched a fund to assist those who struggle with their dream to have a family. This fund is, in turn, funded by couples who've conceived at the hospital previously.

"Due to the specialist nature of Infertility treatment it is expensive and sometimes we do come across patients who cannot afford parts of the medical process. For them, we turn to our fund," Dr Pankaj told Khaleej Times.

Devoting his professional life to helping couples achieve their dreams of becoming parents, Dr Pankaj has made "Let's make you a family!" the mission statement of the entire team at Conceive.

Sharing the amazing story of a childless couple that had approached him, Dr Pankaj said: "We had a Spanish couple who had come to us in November 2008 for treatment. They had been to a few other IVF centres prior to this and had not met with any success. Due to the global economic downturn back then, their savings had been completely exhausted."

After speaking with the couple, Dr Pankaj learnt that they had had seven failed cycles and were very distraught. This was their last ditch attempt and they were planning to leave the UAE at the year's end. They approached Dr Pankaj's Conceive hospital as learning its prices were lower.

Dr Pankaj - with help of the fund - helped the couple get the required treatment and their happiness knew no bounds when the wife's pregnancy test miraculously came back positive. "In September 2009, we received postal mail from Seville, Spain, with photos of their beautiful baby girl. I cannot express the happiness it brought to our team," the doctor said.

But that isn't the end of the story.. In 2014, the same couple paid it forward!

"The Spanish couple called me and spoke about how much joy and luck their girl had brought them. Both had found professional success in their hometown and business was booming. They remembered how this fund of ours had helped them at a time when they had no hope left. They voiced the desire to help other such couples and made a generous donation to us. This wonderful gesture of theirs contributed to the infertility cycle of a Bangladeshi couple who came seven months later to us and needed some financial assistance."

The fund gifted the Bangladeshi couple with a set of twin baby boys in 2015.

"When the boys were born, their parents brought them to Conceive to show them to the staff. We told them about the Spanish couple, preserving their confidentiality of course, and how their donation played a huge role in their conception. It was an incredibly poignant and moving moment, because the couple broke down in tears of gratitude," Dr Pankaj said.

Explaining the working of the fund, he said: "It is funded by our own patients. Couples who've conceived with us previously often ask what they can do for the doctors and nurses as a token of their gratitude and appreciation. Instead, we ask them to contribute whatever they can to this fund, to help others in a similar position that they were once in and who may not be able to afford the cost of conception. You'd be surprised how much this fund has been nurtured by our patients; sometimes, recurring donations come from the same couples."

The doctor added: "It is such a wonderful and moving thing to witness because right here, people become angels to one another. It is a community in the truest of senses and as a doctor, this philanthropy is important beyond words."

Source: Khaleej Times