I met Mr Shehata,11 years ago when me and my husband had been trying for a baby. I have two children already now 18years and 15 years, but ever since me and Alan had tried for a baby I kept having miscarriages, all at 8 weeks it totally broke our heart. I have been seen by a number of Drs in different hospitals but carried on losing my babies, then I heard of Mr Shehata, my first appointment was made.

When I met Mr Shehata he made me feel at ease, you could tell he loved his work and had great pleasure in helping woman like me, and so my journey began. I tried asprin, heparin injection, progesterone, calcichew, intralipids. I had more miscarriages though all at 8 weeks then I carried a baby. We had scan at 11weeks and saw the baby moving around. Mr Shehata cheered he was over the moon, I was happy but scared, kept thinking something would go wrong. It did, I lost my baby at 15weeks. That was my 19th miscarriage.

I carried on seeing Mr Shehata, I then lost a little boy at 5months had to go in hospital to give birth then have a funeral, I was totally destroyed at this point but couldn’t give up. After I lost my son the drive to London seemed so much longer then 2 hours,Mr Shehata gave me a new drug which I started taking for over a year as daily routine, I fell pregnant and found out September 2012 I was so sure I would lose my baby again.

I didn’t tell anybody, then Christmas came and went then it was a new year 2013. I managed to hide my bump with baggy tops was so scared every day, on January 4th I decided to phone and ask for a scan. I had one the following day at 8.30, I was waiting for the words im sosorry Kelly theres no heartbeat, those words didn’t come I was told baby looked fine, I was yet again so scared thought I had jinxed myuself and would lose my baby. I was booked in at antenatal, every scan I feared the worst.  My baby boy was due the 19th June 2013, but April the 1st my midwife came to do a check. I had high blood pressure and protein and was sent to hospital and kept in. On the 3rd of April at just 29 weeks I was told my baby had to be delievered as I had pre eclampsia and kidney failure.

I knew now I would lose my baby after how far I had come, at 3.51am my son was born through c.section weighing in  at 2ibs 15oz he let out a tiny cry as he came into the world, I was so poorly I didn’t see him for 2 days then when I was wheeled down to the neonatal unit I broke my heart I seen the smallest baby I had ever seen in my life. I honestly thought then I would lose him , at 6weeks 3days on the 18th of May my baby boy was allowed home from hospital, such a proud day of my life.  He is now 11lbs 11oz, 17weeks 5days, but correct age he is 6 weeks 5 days. I can not thank Mr Shehata enough for giving me hope and never giving up on helping me. He is the most amazing Dr you could ever wish to meet, after 11years of waiting, 20 miscarriages and 11 weeks early my baby arrived and is doing fantastically. Thank you so so much to a lovely man – Mr Shehata he has made my, my husband’s and my two daughters’ lives complete.

It was December 2007 when my husband and I decided that we’d like to start a family.  Little did we anticipate the long journey ahead of us…

After two years of trying to conceive naturally without success, tests on both of us; endless blood tests to see if I was ovulating; temperature charting etc. we were told that we fell into the category of “unexplained infertility”.

We embarked on our first round of IVF in 2010 and were able to produce a good amount of strong and healthy embryos.  Having gone all this time without managing to conceive I think we almost looked at IVF as some kind of ‘prescription’ that was going to solve the problem and bring us the baby that we longed for.

We got to blastocyst stage and had the strongest two embryos put back.  When this didn’t work we were devastated but were told and were aware of the fact that statistically there was more chance of IVF working the second or even third time around.

However, these second and third attempts came and went and still no success.  Each time, we were always able to create a good batch of healthy strong embryos, and each time, the ones put back never implanted.  The clinic where we were receiving treatment gave us very little in terms of how to proceed differently with each cycle and we felt like we were just a ‘number’ without any personalized care or attention being given to our situation.

We were told that we had to look upon each round of IVF as ‘another month of trying to conceive’ and that statistically our chances would increase with the more attempts we embarked upon and to ‘just keep going’.  I remember feeling very empty and dissatisfied with each follow up appointment after an unsuccessful round of treatment and it really started to take it’s emotional toll on both of us.

By mid-2011 and not being satisfied with ‘statistics’ any more and still having no real reason for us not being able to conceive, we started to look down other avenues and other places for treatment.

The wife of a colleague of my husband fell pregnant (who had repeated miscarriages) following treatment under Mr. Shehata in connection to both The Miscarriage Clinic and New Life Clinic.

When I looked at the New Life Clinic website, everything it was telling me rang true of our situation.  Although I had never actually become pregnant, subsequently never suffered a miscarriage, failure to conceive for no apparent reason and in our circumstances, failure for our embryos to implant was viewed upon in a similar way, almost like a ‘mini miscarriage’.

We went to see Mr Shehata and following some simple immune system blood tests it transpired that I had very high activity Natural Killer cells which could possibly be the cause of the problem, attacking any healthy embryos.  The very fact that someone had actually taken the time to pin point a ‘potential’ reason for our ‘unexplained infertility’ was a huge lift and filled us with a new found hope that had very much started to fade.  Finally, someone was paying attention to us as individuals, rather than just another number!

So, armed with a variety of drugs and steroids aimed at suppressing my NK cell activity, we set about our fourth attempt of IVF with the assistance of Mr. Shehata.  The cycle of IVF itself was still carried out at our original clinic as we were still entitled to NHS treatment.  However, once again it was unsuccessful.

To describe how crushed we were at this stage is almost impossible.  We had pinned such huge hope on being successful this time, especially as we were targeting what seemed to be the cause of us not being able to conceive.  When we went to our follow up appointment with Mr. Shehata it was all I could do to hold it together emotionally.

We were ready to give up, we couldn’t take any more physically and emotionally – infertility had beaten us and we were never going to have our own biological child.  In my mind and in my heart I was already thinking about finding other ways to become parents, with adoption becoming more of a possibility.  I will never forget for the rest of my life what he said to us. Just three simple words, looking me straight in the eye: “don’t give up”.

After much soul searching we decided to give it one more shot: our fifth and final attempt at IVF.  In our minds we had always had five as the number of attempts we would try, mainly because it was generally perceived that after five attempts the chances of conceiving are very small.  However, because we were so mentally and physically exhausted by this stage, numbers almost didn’t really come into it any more.  Although we were gearing up for this fifth and potentially final attempt, we were so beaten down by and used to disappointment that our hearts weren’t really in it.

We were then referred to Mr. Gafar at New Life Clinic who, during our initial appointment, recommended that before embarking on our fifth cycle,  (which we were now going to carry out completely with New Life) I could try taking the drug Humira, which we were told could help us conceive naturally and that some people fall pregnant naturally by just taking it without the need for IVF!

It was thought that in our situation, it could help calm down NK cell activity and prevent embryos from being attacked that were trying to implant.

In my mind I was thinking this is the kind of luck that happens to other people, not to us, and sure enough, my blood tests showed that it had in fact increased my Cytokine levels even further!  Although we were told this was common on first taking it, it still just left us feeling disheartened… how much more could we take?  However, on New Life’s advice, we decided to give the Humira one last shot before our IVF cycle… why not…

I will always remember that morning.  I’d been feeing a little different… my period was a couple of days late, and I was used to a lot of spotting before any bleeding which hadn’t yet happened. However at this point this still meant very little in terms of getting our hopes up. I decided to take a pregnancy test.. it was a Sunday, I didn’t tell my husband what I was doing, after all, I had taken countless tests before, what was so different this time?  So used to seeing a negative result and why get his hopes up? So when those two blue lines appeared, to say I couldn’t believe my eyes is an understatement!  A few seconds went by when only I knew, only I could see what was happening.  After sharing the news with him, we were both in absolute shock and I remember us just sitting on the bed bewildered, just staring at the positive test in disbelief!

After some further treatment at New Life Clinic to help us hold on to the pregnancy, I am delighted to be writing this with our dear little son lying sound asleep next to me.  It seems that the Humira had appeared to completely ‘re-set’ my system, enabling my body to allow a naturally conceived embryo to implant.

To think that after all these years we didn’t even need IVF treatment in order to conceive.   We have finally realized our dream of becoming biological parents.  I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for the help of Mr. Shehata, Mr. Gafar and New Life Clinic we wouldn’t be blessed with our little miracle, and for this we will always be deeply grateful.

His little hands were curled into perfect circles, and his features were recognisably those of his father, but our son, William Brighton Clover would never open his eyes and see the world.

Thanks to Dr. Shehata though, William’s loss did not remain unexplained and his baby sister is now lighting up our lives.

William died in utero on July 26th 2010 after an uneventful pregnancy when I had not suspected for a moment that there was anything wrong. He was 22 weeks old, which meant that I had to go into hospital and go through labour without the joyful prospect of a baby at the end of it.

The experience was traumatic, extremely frightening. I was 36 when we lost our first baby, but NHS tests did not find any reason for his death. Nevertheless I was determined not to leave any stone unturned before trying for another child. I couldn’t take the risk of losing another life so late along in a pregnancy and having to go through labour again or finding the remainder of my fertile years taken up with repeated miscarriages.

I read an article by Dr Shehata in the Daily Mail, and am so glad I stumbled across it. Dr Shehata believes that the majority of recurring miscarriages have an undiagnosed cause.

After a brief and friendly appointment and a few blood tests I was surprised but heartened to realise that there was a reason we had lost William. I suffer from two conditions that make it difficult to carry a baby to term. Firstly, my body does not absorb folic acid properly – I suffer from the MTHFR gene mutation – which means I need 12 times the recommended does of folic acid during pregnancy.

Furthermore, I have a high count of Natural Killer cells, which are toxic to the placenta, and likely caused me to miscarry William so late, as he began to grow faster and needed the placenta to work harder.

To conceive the second time, I had to take aspirin, extra folic acid, progesterone, and steroids to dampen down my immune response and have monthly intrallipid infusions, which meant flying back to London from Moscow where we live for the intravenous treatment once a month till I was 5 months along, but all the effort was paid off and our reward was a beautiful daughter.

Jaya Sarah Clover was born on August 2nd 2012, and she is a bouncing giggling bundle of joy. After the trauma of losing William, to have successfully had a perfect healthy little girl really feels like a miracle.

We were over the moon when I first fell pregnant just months after our wedding. Nine weeks later we were told that the baby had stopped growing at around six weeks. We were utterly devastated but remained positive that things would be successful next time. Again, I fell pregnant quickly only to be told at an early scan that the baby had stopped growing again at six seeks. At this point we were still hopeful that the miscarriages were bad luck and we must be due some good luck soon. Sadly, my third and forth pregnancies ended the same way and, after having every test available on the NHS, no reason could be found for our losses. ‘Just bad luck’ we kept being told by doctors.

My miscarriages all followed a very similar pattern and we had a feeling that something was causing them other than just bad luck. I knew that someone must be able to give me some answers and spent hours searching the internet. It was in May last year that I came across Mr Shehata’s clinic.

It was the first time in a long time we felt a glimmer of hope. Mr Shehata said he would try to find a cause for all our heartbreaking miscarriages. He quickly discovered I had a very high level of NK cells and recommended a treatment plan of steroids and intralipids. We were so relieved that finally someone could give us some answers and offer me a treatment plan.

When I became pregnant for the fifth time, we were still very anxious but had faith in Mr Shehata and the treatment I was on. I will never forget the first time he scanned me and we saw a tiny flickering heartbeat on the screen. We had never got that far with our other pregnancies so it was an amazing feeling and a huge milestone in our long journey to become parents. One positive scan was followed by another and finally we started to believe that we might actually have our long awaited baby.

I went on to have our beautiful daughter Ella in July, just over a year after I discovered Mr Shehata. Along with his fantastic team, he gave us hope and support throughout my pregnancy. I am eternally grateful to him for helping us achieve our dream of having a family.

Kate

I already have a daughter who was born in 2001 – my pregnancy with her was very normal and she arrived at 37 weeks after a very normal and quick labour. I then found that I was pregnant in 2007 – completley unplanned but delighted nevertheless. At around 10 1/2 weeks, I started to bleed – just light spotting – as I was due a scan in the next week, I decided to leave it. By the time the scan date arrived, I knew that something was wrong as the bleeding was heavy now. I was right, there was no heart beat and we were told that the feotus was at the 7-8 week stage when it stopped developing. We were told by the doctors that ‘it was one of those things’ and given the statistics on the number of women that miscarry. We were devestated, but still hopeful. Three months later, I fell pregnant again – this time with no bleeding and having started suffering for morning sickness we went to our scan appointment full of optimism. We were shocked to find again that there was no heartbeat – in complete disbelief. Again, the feotus was showing to be at the 7-8 week stage. After having a D&C, I visited my GP to get some answers, but was again told the same as before – one of those things. Under the NHS, investigations are made only after 3 miscarriages. We were exhausted both emotionally and I physically so we decided to leave things for a while. In Novemeber 2009, I fell pregnant again, but started bleeding immedietly and after a very early scan at the EPU, it was confirmed that we had lost another pregnancy. I didn’t think I could do this again. My partner and I had a blood test to check for chromosones – all was ok. Still no answers.

My partner, decided to take things in his own hands and began researching alternatives on the internet and this is how we stumbled across Mr Shehata. There was a clip of him speaking on Richard and Judy – he was saying something different. It wasn’t just one of those things – there could be reasons and ways to prevent miscarriages. We didn’t hesitate and made an appointment for our initial consultation. This was made easier as Mr Shehata had various clinics and so we were able to choose where to go depending on location and availability.

When we first met Mr Shehata, we were struck by how positive he was about us having a successful pregnancy. He talked us through the possible reason for my miscarriages as being due to a high killer cell. I was unsure as I had had such a normal pregnancy with my daughter, but Mr Shehata explained how this could occur. I went along for some blood tests and after a few weeks returned to see Mr Shehata to discuss the results. It seemed that my killer cell was very high and so could have been the cause for the miscarriages. He explained the treatment, which was very simple. We couldn’t quite believe that he was so positive.

Soon after, I feel pregnant again and we arranged an appointment for a scan at 6 weeks. All was well but it was after this stage that I had lost the previous pregnancies so I was stilll very anxious. We continued to see Mr Shehata every fortnight for scans and we couldn’t believe that we had got to 10 weeks and everything was still ok. I’ll be honest, I never did stop feeling anxious, not until I held our little son but having those regular consultations really did help put my mind at rest. We continued to see Mr Shehata until I reached 16 weeks. I would have continued, but he assured us that we didn’t need to but could if we wished. His confidence was very reassuring.

Due to having had three miscarriages, I was eventually referred to an obstetrician through the NHS and so after my 20 week scan, I also had scans at 24 and 30 weeks – this added to my reassurance. Seven and a half weeks later, our beautiful boy was born after a very normal and quick labour. We really couldn’t believe it. I think we had both not really wanted to imagine what it would be like to hold him because we didn’t want to build up our hopes. So, when he arrived, it just felt unbelievable. We had our little boy and our daughter had her little brother that she was so desperate for.

We completely believe that he is here because of Mr Shehata’s treatment. This last pregnancy was our last chance – I didn’t think that we could have coped with another loss as we are all getting older! We can’t thank Mr Shehata enough and hope that by sharing our story and making people aware of this could save a lot of heartache.

…having had 4 miscarriages we read about Mr Shehata and were amazed and decided to go and see him ourselves. He carried out several tests and a scan and we found I had polycysic ovaries and nkc cells which i was given treatment for and a follow up appointment.

On our return it was discovered i was pregnant, expecting a little boy who was born 23 Dec 2010 and is our little miracle baby. We would recommend Mr. Shehata to anyone and everyone experiencing difficulties.

Shortly after getting married I suffered 3 miscarriages within 10 months of each other which cast a shadow over our happiness together. As I belong to the medical profession it was easy for me to be seen by several specialist doctors who told me that all was fine with me and that it was just a case of bad luck.

The first time that we saw Mr. Shehata I was feeling really depressed, inadequate as a woman, confused and pretty sure that I wouldn’t be able to have a child. He listened to us with a lot of compassion and gave us hope when he mentioned that I could have a high NK cells count which could be the cause of my pregnancy losses.

When he confirmed his suspicions a couple of weeks later that I had a high NK cells count we began to see light at the end of the tunnel and decided that we were going to give the treatment a chance.

I started the treatment with steroids a couple of months after being given the result – we just wanted a bit of quality time enjoying each other’s company before the “big adventure”- and luckily I fell pregnant immediately.

As Mr. Shehata explained to me, the steroids gave me a few nasty side effects: insomnia, anxiety, a puffy face, constant sweating… but all was worth it when he did an ultrasound at 6 weeks and we could listen to our baby’s heartbeat for the first time… what a moment! We could only see a little “rice grain” moving furiously but we were so full of respect and pride for this brave human being growing strongly inside me.

I would be lying if I said that it was all a bed of roses, I was feeling very scared during the pregnancy – Whenever I had a twinge or a little cramp I was convinced that I was having another miscarriage. However none of the side effects, the morning sickness or even the labour pains were as painful as the sorrow of losing my babies,
so I don’t have any doubt that I would do it all over again the same way.

Even though the pregnancy was complicated and the birth wasn’t what I had planned for, we were blessed with our little baby boy who was born on the 28th May 2010.

We called him Nicolas, in part because it means “victory” and that is the way I feel every time that I look at him. I still can’t believe that he has come into our lives, everything is more colourful, brighter and full of laughter, and I have to pinch myself from time to time as I can’t believe how lucky we are!

We are so thankful to Mr. Shehata for helping us to experience the joy of parenthood. We believe so much in what he does that we are already planning a little brother or sister for our baby, and all of course under his guidance and support.