AHMEDABAD: This lawyer was not daunted by the trials of patience brought on by the 'tareekh pe tareekh' challenge. In fact, Sheetal Thaker (36), a public prosecutor in the coastal city of
Jamnagar, chose to fight on through 22
IVF cycles, 10 abortions, and hundreds of painful injections over six years to become a mother to a baby girl.
Experts say majority of couples get frustrated and drop out of treatment after 3-5 IVF cycles if results are not forthcoming. "I had decided not to give up," says Thaker. "I had vowed to become a mother come what may."
Thaker said the injections and the miscarriages were painful. "But I did not lose hope," she says while cradling her girl. The family has named the baby Pankti.
Thaker gives credit to her husband Pranav, a banker, for not quitting this painful journey mid-way. She says she diverted her mind during the infertility treatment by pursuing a postgraduate degree in law.
Joy in personal life and fulfilment in career were both delivered around the same time. The girl was born on Independence day on August 15 while her appointment letter as public prosecutor arrived a few days earlier.
"A couple persisting for 22 cycles for a baby is unprecedented," said fertility specialist Dr Falguni Bavishi. "Despite multiple miscarriages, which made us apprehensive, Sheetal was resilient. She never allowed her emotions and reversals to shake her determination to become a mother."
Bavishi said their data reveals that 50% of couples become parents in the initial cycles while subsequent cycles carry a fifty-fifty chance of a successful pregnancy. Thaker married in 2006. After three years of marriage when she did not conceive, the couple consulted doctors.
It was revealed that only one of Thaker's two ovaries were functional. She also had a medical problem in the uterus. She took extensive ayurveda and allopathy treatments in vain. Her IVF treatment began in 2012.
Thaker gives credit to her husband Pranav, a banker, for not quitting this painful journey mid-way
