Every day, first thing in the morning, all the gynaecologists in our sterility team get together and check the results of our patients’ pregnancy tests – many have already been sent to us due to the time difference with other countries. Let me tell you what I’ve seen today, December 20th, at 10 a.m.

First positive is Helen’s, from England. I check their picture in my computer, she’s smiling and he has a serious look. Before they came to Institut Marquès, their story trying to concieve could be tracked 14 years and 9 cycles back in time! She’s 44 and was diagnosed premature menopause at 32, so they came for an egg donation. In the UK, egg donation is not anonymous and, thus, there are less donors, since donor and child could look for each other eventually. Hence, most must seek for parenthood abroad. Can you even imagine how our phone call sounded?

The second positive is Patrizia’s, Italian. She’s 37 and her husband is 38. They were faced with several challenges: he doesn’t produce any sperm and in Italy sperm donation is forbidden. In addition, they were economically challenged, as he works as a chauffeur and she’s a cleaning lady. Since their child couldn’t be biologically his, they decided it would be neither’s, so they underwent embryo donation instead of egg and sperm donation, mostly for its lower cost. It’s an incredible satisfaction to have helped a couple that, despite their difficulties, has never abandoned their dream of having a baby from the day they were married.

One of the nurses breaks in with great news: a patient whose sitting in our waiting room has come with a positive test! It’s Fulvia’s, I know her well because I’m her doctor, she’s a stunningly beautiful 35 year old Brazilian. Fulvia wanted to have a baby with donor sperm because her partner is a Catalan girl. During their first visit I recommended they got married, as that would give both of them equal rights and obligations over the child. They were originally very worried about who their sperm donor would be, but they seem to have that forgotten by now. They can barely speak… they only cry from happiness!

Negative outcomes get you down, and we must keep improving until we achieve 100% positives, but, nevertheless, watching our patients who have become pregnant gives us the strength to continue throughout the day.

We see more positives than negatives, but getting to this point has been, and continues to be, a big fight. It entails working with the best professionals, the best technology, and making continuous investments on latest advances and team work.

Nevertheless, it’s a great satisfaction to help so many people in making their dreams come true and being able to tell them that, nowadays, if they’re ready to win that war they will win it, even though some battles must be fought before.

As you can see, ours is a privilege more than a job.