Walsall couple dreaming of starting own family share their heartbreaking struggle
A husband and wife from Walsall still have hope to start their own family after suffering two miscarriages over three difficult years.
Sarina and Vik Dosanjh, who are both 30 years old, said they long for a family of their own – since their marriage in 2015, they have “always dreamed” of having children, but have been met with difficulties out of their control.
The Sikh couple suffered “back to back” miscarriages and complications since starting their journey to parenthood. When the first lockdown hit, the couple decided it was the right time to try.
A few months later, in November 2020, Sarina found out that she was pregnant. The couple were excited, and Sarina said “everything was fine”, but noticed unusual bleeding five weeks later. The couple were concerned, and booked a scan at Walsall Manor hospital. Doctors confirmed that Sarina was okay.
She was on her own for her first scan, and the appointments that followed – Covid restrictions at the time meant that her husband could not be by her side.
A following scan found a heartbeat which, due to the hospital’s rules surrounding Covid restrictions, Vik was not there to see. He had no choice but to wait in the car park. Sarina said attending all appointments on her own was “difficult in itself”. Taxi driver Vik felt “helpless” at the time.
He said: “I couldn’t do anything. Sometimes you just need a physical presence and reassurance from someone, knowing that you’re in this together.”
Sarina, who works as an accommodation administrator at Birmingham University, said her and Vik still had concerns, and booked in for another scan. A week before the appointment, Sarina recalled saying to Vik that she “didn’t feel pregnant”. The second scan did not find a heartbeat.
“I was heartbroken” Sarina said. After their first loss, the couple took a break before finding out that Sarina was pregnant in May 2021. Again, Sarina began bleeding, but only three days after they found out she was pregnant. The fact that she began bleeding so soon was an evident sign of a miscarriage, and was a “normal” symptom of such.
In the year that followed, Sarina and Vik kept trying, but they had no luck. They began to explore other options, among them being IVF. They began the procedure, but tests found that Sarina’s egg count was low, and Vik’s sperm count was close to zero.
Since then, the couple were given medication to help increase their fertility, which has had positive effects. Vik’s sperm count is now measured at around 700,000, and the pair have been told that, based on their progression so far, there is a 10 per cent chance of success through IVF.
Vik said: “At the moment it looks positive, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. It will be relief it it works. The ultimate dream to have child of our own – it will be brilliant. Still, we have not pinned all hopes on it, it’s important to not put all eggs in one basket.
“If it works we know that miracles do happen.
“There is always a light at end of the tunnel, sometimes the tunnel just ends up longer than you expect.
“Everyone is different, but we know our time will come when it is right. We will be patient and have faith in God. It will get us through.”
Sarina and Vik have started a support group called Himmat Collective, which provides an “open and relaxed space” for anyone and everyone to share their journey to parenthood and talk to others, and to help those in the Sikh and Punjabi communities to overcome the language barrier and learn about their bodies and experiences.
The couple will now appear in a new BBC One show, Married, Sikh and Wanting a Baby, tonight at 10.40pm.
