Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Fertility and the Pakistani Mentality

A few months after my marriage, we decided to try for a baby. For some couples, it happens immediately, for others it can take longer... In our case, it was the latter.

For some reason, everyone automatically assumed I might have a "problem". I was still relatively young (24) and Alhamdulilah healthy, but the pressure was getting to me... Each time we'd visit Lahore or I'd speak to my in-laws on the phone, they'd ask, "any good news yet?!" and frankly, I was
a) embarrassed to talk about this with anyone 
b) couldn't think of an appropriate answer

On one memorable visit to Lahore, I was taken to a well-known gynaecologist for a fertility check-up. I was close to tears at this point, but thankfully, managed to find some humor in the situation and my friend and I had a good laugh on the phone. The doctor was an absolute darling. The first thing he asked for was a sperm-count which had very conveniently been ignored (even though I was made to get all kinds of invasive tests) because ofcourse the girl has a problem and the Man is a perfect specimen of male vitality.   

As it turns out, my reports were Alhamdulilah clear. The stress of the last few months fell away and I could be a "normal" woman again :-P. 

I just wish our culture stopped being so biased toward women and for anyone in this situation, please, do not despair and remain strong.

1 comment:

  1. Why your hubby didn't stop the intrusion? tell him to put limits on them, otherwise they'll make your life hell.

    ps. ofcourse he can only have this power if you both are financially independent and not waiting for inheritence ;)

    ReplyDelete