Now, we’re a happy family

ATA Family

Our names are Ülkü and Rüstem Ata. We were desperate to have a child for six years. We had embarked on long-term drug therapy, received a series of injections and made four attempts to have a IVF baby. My husband is 40 and I’m 46 years old. They told us, “You can’t have children!” Our whole worlds came crashing down on us.

We were living in the Ardeşen district of the Rize province. We had acquaintances who had undergone infertility treatment and had had IVF babies. We talked to them and shared our problem. When they told us that they had received their treatment at the German Hospital IVF Center, we felt a glimmer of hope. Those IVF babies were a testament to the success of the Center. They encouraged us to give it a try, too.

We made our preparations and arrived in Istanbul eight months later with an appointment. Mr. Bahçeci said, “Age is a critical issue. You have an 8 percent success rate. The decision is yours.” We had already decided to try our luck. As a result of the treatment, we had two high quality embryos transferred. But they didn’t cling to the uterus and our world came crashing down on us once again. As a last-ditch effort we talked to Dr. Ersadık. He said, “Your eggs were very high-quality. I recommend you give it one more try. I’m very optimistic about your case. We hope to see you back here in three months.” We replied that we would think about it and later left Istanbul for Ardeşen.

Dr. Ersadık approached us very cordially. He filled us with hope. And three months later, we stretched our means and returned to Istanbul full of excitement. We made our fourth IVF baby attempt on February 15, 2003. As a result of the treatment, we had six embryos and four of these were transferred by the skilled hands of Mr. Bahceci. Two of them clung to the uterus. We received the happy news from Dr. Halit Fırat. We cried a lot out of joy. Afterwards, we continued our check-ups in Ardeşen. On the ultrasound, one of the amniotic sacs was empty but we could hear heartbeats in the other. We praised God. We spent the nine-month period full of excitement and hope. At long last, I delivered our baby via C-section on November 30, 2003 at 10:30 at the Faculty of Medicine at Ankara University. We felt on top of the world. I was a mother and my husband a father for the first time. This was truly a miracle for us. We had a cute baby girl. We called her Pelin. Our Pelin is the most gorgeous thing in the world. We realize how wonderfully beautiful life is with her in our arms. Our daughter Pelin became the source of joy for the Ata family. We are so happy today. We thank God over and over.
I would like to thank, first and foremost, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Bahçeci, Dr. Ersadık, Dr. Halit, Dr. Mehmet Ali and all of the personnel who contributed to this happy ending. May God bless you all. May God make what you touch turn into gold.
I, Rüstem and my wife Ülkü and daughter Pelin thank each of you so much and pay our respects to you.