Maria - "IVF Child" from ICSI Generation

There was a big interview with our wonderful Maria, on the 24 channel website, who appeared in the ICSI CLINIC 23 years ago and became another bright star in the constellation of people from the "ICSI-generation"!

The original interview is available at https://news.24tv.ua/ru/intervju-z-devushkoj-mariej-kotoraja-poslednie-novosti-ukrainy_n1473292/amp

An honest conversation with ICSI-generation: 

- I am not fortuitous. I am a great love!

Today, hundreds of thousands of couples in the world are resorting to the procedure of in vitro fertilization that cannot become parents on their own. IVF has given lives to millions of people and made several generations of parents happy.

Although the first IVF girl, Louise Joy Brown, was born in 1978, there are still many myths and prejudices surrounding artificial insemination. To debunk them a bit and find out how IVF-children is growing up, we tracked down and talked to wonderful and charming Maria, who was born thanks to the ICSI CLINIC specialists, let's just say, at the end of the last century.

- Maria, hello! You are 23 years old. Congratulations from the bottom of my heart! You are an IVF-child. How old were you when you found it out?

- Thank you for your congratulations! I knew I was an IVF-child, probably my entire life. It was never hidden from me. Even the opposite! I have always been very proud that I am a special child! A child made with great love, with great awareness, and with great desire.

Have you ever been embarrassed about it? Do you think it is your own thing?

I’ve never been embarrassed that I’m an IVF baby! And I’ve always considered this my "thing"! Because it has its charm and its beauty.

I remember when I accidentally mentioned to a friend of mine that I am that child who was born through artificial insemination. I will never forget his surprised eyes: - I thought IVF-children are different or they do not exist at all!". I also noticed how carefully he looked at me like he was studying me. And only after seeing what a beautiful creature I am (laughs) he relaxed, and we became friends. And we have been friends, by the way, for many years.

How did you study at school?

– I was very good at school! Math class, first desk. And I always could not wait for my favorite math to start - I always loved it!

After school, I had extra classes in math, physics, chemistry, French, and English. And then the ballet academy, among other things!

I had the strength, the energy, and the desire for everything because I was interested and wanted to try everything! Ever since I was a child, I felt that my life was filled with events, emotions, people - something important and needed for me. I have always been bent on everything, moving forward, rashing somewhere.

Where did you go after school? What specialty did you choose?

– After school, I entered the KNEU (Kyiv National Economic University). I chose a pretty interesting, for the girl specialty - economic cybernetics! I studied for four years there, and after that, I enrolled in a master's degree at the Taras Shevchenko University in Management.

– One of the most perverse myths that IVF-kids are not like everyone else - they are often underdeveloped. 

Maria, you look gorgeous! Can you please tell me what you do in your life? 

– Yeah, it is weird that there are still such myths like that - 

"IVF-kids are not that kind of...", "poor babies are often underdeveloped...", "they are fragile and often sick." 

When I read such "deep" reasoning, I find it funny. And I want to shout, "Look at me! Am I any different than you? I am normal!"

I was always a calm and busy child - never a bully, never a waste of time.

I love animals, and I have been saving them since I was a kid. Today I am professionally involved in charitable work - helping the Gostomel Animal Shelter every day, which is about 20 years old. Some people who come to our shelter think I am a vet (laughs). So professionally, I treat and nurse animals. And when a real vet comes, he talks to me as a colleague. I guess when you like what you do, you are good at it. People see it, and animals feel it. It is a pleasure to see their eyes muted with gratitude!

At 17 years, I became the personal assistant of the former soloist of the "Time and Glass" band - Nadia Dorofeyeva. Since then, I have been combining university studies with work, help at the animal shelter, and housework. By the way, at home, we also have a mini-shelter that my mother and I run. Over 70 animals are living there.

Maria, do you have any flaws? What would you change in yourself?

"ICSI Generation" has no flaws! (laughs).

I am pretty self-critical: It is hard for strangers to hurt me, but if I feel like I am making a mistake, I scold myself a lot. I also have too much faith in people, and I don’t know when people are lying. Sometimes it hurts.

And, and I love to sleep! ) That is why I am often late. At school, that was my problem 1!

How do people react when they find out you are IVF? With hidden curiosity? Or with compassion?

– All my friends, of course, know how I was born. Those who find out about it today are always curious to ask dozens of questions. And I’m always happy to share that information, so to speak, on a first-person basis. When people have a living example, perhaps they will be able to understand that technology in the service of nature is a blessing, but not heresy.

It seems to me that parenthood should be approached not only with desire but also consciously. Kids are not just random things in our lives, and this is our future, our continuation. And IVF in the 21st century is one of the best ways out if things don’t work out.

Ten years ago, I decided that when I am ready to be a mom, I want my kid to be an IVF, too.

– I noticed that you have a very warm relationship with your mom. Maria, have you thought about how much your parents have been waiting for you if they’ve gone through such a complicated procedure in every sense?

– Yes, my mother and I have an insanely strong bond! It’s a vast rapport! From time to time, I get the feeling that I know what she’s thinking about. And she, in turn, reads my mind. Sometimes it’s scary! (laughs)

I am a desired baby! I am the most wanted child ever! And when I listen to the story, how it all started, how far she went, how she first saw me... this little cell... It’s unbelievable! I even have a picture of this cell - me. Me, where I am a tiny cell!

And it’s so touching and thrilling to realize that I was wanted so much, so consciously! That I’m not a fortuitousness. I’m a great love. Plus the talent and experience of my god-uncle Sasha... Alexander Semyonovich Darii, who helped me to be born. And it all worked out, coincidentally, and I came along!

I’m very proud of it and it’s hard to put into words... It gives unbelievable power to realize that you’re so loved... and loved, and wanted, and so consciously treated it.

– What about the doctor who became your Godfather. What’s your relationship? Do you feel any sort of energy connection with him?

– Indeed, the doctor who brought me into this world became my Godfather. I guess I never told him this, but I love him a lot. And it’s not just a checkmark - I feel a connection to him. He supported me until I was born, and he supports me now. This is a man with insanely positive energy, strong and talented. That is why I’m so lucky to have a Godfather-like him. “The father” and no other word for it.

Do you believe in God? What is your attitude towards religion?

– Yes, I believe in God! But to me, God is something that is beyond our comprehension. The Cosmic Mind. The Energy of the Universe. Something big, immense. Out of time and space. And people just agreed among themselves and gave that name to God.

I am baptized. We are Catholics. I try to visit the church regularly: for me, it’s like purifying. I come to the church to be alone with myself. I can cry and seek forgiveness, tell about my accomplishments, and thank the universe for all this, for this power and for who I am, for appearing in this world. It’s like an equation - if you add all of its variables, including this power, the most desired result will appear - babies! Everything appears on this planet - life appears!

So yes, I believe! And it feels really good.

– Recently, on a medical Facebook page (for patients and doctors) I asked a simple question, "IVF is good or bad?" 

To be honest, I didn’t even think it was possible to have this kind of ignorant attitude towards artificial insemination: "Destroying women’s health". "Interference in God’s plans". "Fraud and quack".

I think you have every right to object to these people.

– It is so surprising to understand that people can disparage such revolutionary advances in science! They must have burned Giordano Bruno at the stake for that. Foremost, it’s a breakthrough in medicine!

That’s how I - not a medic, but just a child who’s born, lives and enjoys life - would explain this process: you take material from a mother, you take material from a father, you select the best cells and bring them together into great happiness! I don’t understand how people can say anything about destroying women’s health! It’s about helping a woman realize her natural destiny - to become a Mother!

This is about how some people oppose Caesarean sections: even if it’s bad, it hurts, but it’s natural! Medical science must be harnessed! It’s not fraud, it’s not quackery, and it’s not interference with God’s plans!

When people don’t understand something, they’re afraid. And they start to speculate. And that’s where the myths come from. It seems to me that such things just have to be explained in detail to people, so they can see that there are children like me and that everything is fine with us!

– The ICSI Clinic, whose specialists helped your parents (sorry for the tautology) become parents, is known for its cohesive team constancy. Most of the doctors work in the clinic for 18-20 years. When you come to see the Godfather, does a thought slip through that these people in the turquoise uniform are directly involved in your birth?

– Yes! When I come to my godfather and see other doctors, geneticists, nurses, it feels like, "they’ve known me longer than I know myself!" (laughs). And it’s an incredible feeling that you and thousands of other babies ever born became one big, big family, together!

– IVF children are children not BECAUSE, but DESPITE. This is a miracle born of the great desire and knowledge of many people. Do you feel unique? 

What would you advise people who can’t get pregnant on their own and who only start thinking about artificial insemination?

– I think it’s no secret that neither we nor our bodies are perfect. Even sophisticated super-duper computers sometimes fail. And unfortunately, some couples can’t be natural parents. But it may have been a problem - today it is simply a task that can and must be addressed.

Today, science has reached great heights and stands in the service of love. And as a result of this symbiosis, babies are born - wonderful, healthy, strong, with great potential. They’ve been waited for. They’ve been desired! In which parents and doctors have invested as much as possible - energy, knowledge, experience, love!

And as Yuri Dood says blitz! 

- Favorite movie?

- "Pirates of the Caribbean"! I love Johnny Depp!

- What’s your favorite dish?- 

- Spaghetti and sushi!

- What kind of music do you like?

- I love classical music!

- Do you do any sports?

- Eight years of ballet academy are already behind! Also a couple more years of modern dancing. Right now, it’s just to keep myself fit with the help of stretching classes and the gym.

Maria, thank you so much for your honesty! I wish all your dreams come true and everything you want in your life!