The doctor who could treat children but struggled to have her own

By  Kamau Maichuhie

Gender Reporter

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• After failed attempts, a Kenyan paediatrician finally became a mother through IVF, highlighting the emotional and financial challenges facing couples experiencing infertility.
• Dr Rachel’s seven-year journey to motherhood involved failed IVF attempts, surrogacy and anxiety before she finally gave birth to a baby girl.

For years, Rachel* built her career around caring for other people's children. As a paediatrician at one of Kenya's leading hospitals, she spent her days treating sick infants and reassuring worried parents. Behind the scenes, though, she was fighting her own quiet battle to become a mother, one that would take seven years, two surrogate mothers and three failed pregnancy attempts before it finally worked.

After marrying, Rachel began trying to have a baby in 2017. It was not until 2022, at the age of 35, that she realised something might be wrong, a realisation that prompted her to seek medical help.

Doctors told her she might not be able to carry a pregnancy because of problems with her uterus.

"The doctor told me I could carry a pregnancy but was sceptical about whether it would be successful. He was not sure about it. It's at this time that I decided to get a surrogate mother to carry a pregnancy for me. I got a young girl, but she would drink and dance a lot, making the pregnancy eventually fail," she tells Nation in an interview.

Undeterred, Rachel looked for a second surrogate. That attempt also failed, after the embryo could not grow to the required size. Frustrated, she decided to try again, and was delighted when several tests showed she could carry a baby herself.

"Despite the assurance by the doctor that all would be well, two of my IVF (in vitro fertilisation) attempts were not successful. I must say it was disappointing and stressful," she says.

Still unwilling to give up, Rachel consulted another doctor, who examined her and assured her she was fit to carry a pregnancy.

"I decided to give it a try after the doctor's assurance. I underwent another IVF procedure. Being a doctor myself, I tested myself after seven days, and it turned out positive. I could tell it had signs of pregnancy. I was overjoyed," she says.

To be certain, she had a blood and urine test done at one of Nairobi's leading hospitals, which also came back positive. Fourteen days later, she returned to the IVF clinic, where an ultrasound confirmed the pregnancy.

"After the ultrasound, I now believed that I was pregnant for sure. I did not work for the first three months. I was always anxious that the pregnancy would not last to term," she adds.

Rachel eventually gave birth to a healthy baby girl, whom she named after her late mother. She credits her husband for standing by her through the constant fear that the baby would turn out to be abnormal.

"I cannot describe how I felt when I held the baby in my arms. I thought I knew love, but I realised what love was when I held the child. I was the happiest woman. It was a seven-year dream come true."

Motherhood has changed how she relates to her young patients, she says, allowing her to better understand what their families go through. She is now looking forward to having more children through the same method, and is hopeful her body will cooperate.

"I plan to have more. I had my child through a Caesarean section, and I am supposed to wait for two years before trying again. I don't think I will wait for all that time," she adds.

Speak up, seek help

Rachel's advice to women going through similar struggles is simple: do not suffer in silence. She urges them to speak openly about their experiences so they can get help, and to set aside any stigma around children conceived through IVF, since they are just as normal as those conceived naturally.

"Those women with similar problems should be encouraged and not demonised. I really tried, and eventually it paid off. I was, for example, open about my condition and work, and colleagues were understanding and supportive," she concludes.

Dr Sarita Sukhija, a fertility doctor and IVF specialist at Myra IVF and Medical Centre in Nairobi, says the procedure has become an important option for couples struggling with infertility, which affects an estimated 20 to 25 per cent of couples.

"There are many causes of infertility in women, including problems in the uterus, infection or blocked fallopian tubes, and fibroids. In Africa, fibroids are common. However, not all fibroids are bad for pregnancy. When they grow outside the uterus, a woman can get pregnant," she says.

According to Sarita, pelvic infections that lead to blocked fallopian tubes, late marriages and fibroids are among the major contributors to infertility. Age, she adds, is also a critical factor: women above 40 usually experience higher rates of miscarriage.

"A woman's age is critical when it comes to IVF. For those women aged 35 and above, chances of getting a child through this method are low. A lot of miscarriages occur because of abnormal embryos as a result of age."

She advises couples struggling to conceive to seek medical advice so their condition can be properly diagnosed and treated. IVF procedures, she notes, are relatively expensive, ranging between Sh550,000 and Sh600,000, with hormonal injections to help stimulate egg production costing an extra Sh120,000. Most of the material inputs used, she adds, are sourced from abroad.

Patients undergoing IVF are required to attend check-ups every two weeks for the first three months, after which they continue care with their personal gynaecologists. Depending on individual circumstances, delivery can be through Caesarean section or a normal birth.

Kenya's fertility sector is expanding rapidly, with more than 15 established IVF centres now operating in major hubs including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret. An estimated 4.4 to 6 million Kenyans are affected by infertility, with roughly one in six couples facing fertility challenges.

While individual clinics report high volumes, the Nairobi IVF Centre, for instance, handles 80 to 100 cycles a month; no comprehensive national registry exists to track the total number of patients treated across private facilities. For many, the high cost of a single IVF cycle remains the biggest barrier to access.