Danica and Vlado from Serbia

My name is Danica and I am 36 years old. My partner Vlado is 37 years old and we have been living in Greece for three years. We are originally from Serbia; I am from Nis and Vlado is from Belgrade. We have been together for 15 years, since 2008.

How we discovered the challenge of infertility

While we were still living in Serbia, we discovered that I could not get pregnant. We looked for the cause and found out that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Our doctor said that the best treatment in this case is IVF.

IVF attempts in the Czech Republic

We had 3 IVF attempts in the Czech Republic. We had heard very good things about the clinic there and went with high hopes. Imagine how disappointed we were when each attempt ended in zero. After the third unsuccessful attempt, we decided to give up. We had lost all hope and our finances were not in the best shape.

A new beginning in Greece

We later moved to Greece because Vlado had found a very good job in a large IT company. I didn’t work at first and studied Greek intensively. I liked Greece and wanted to integrate into society as quickly as possible. As my Greek improved, I started watching Greek programmes on TV for practice and fun. That’s when I saw Dr Thanos Paraschos on a show with Fay Skordas. They were talking about IVF and they showed a lady who had triplets at the EmBIO clinic.

Discovering the EmBIO Clinic

Vlado was earning a very good salary in Greece and when I also got a job as a graphic designer, our finances were better than ever. We started thinking about IVF again because we both really wanted to have children. I told Vlado about the TV programme. We found the EmBIO website and were impressed by the success rates they promised. The doctor’s CV was also impressive, as were his many press publications, his appearances on TV shows and the fact that a former prime minister and a doctor had chosen him for their own pregnancies and the birth of their twins.

Three months after the first programme, I saw Dr Thanos Paraschos on television again. This time they were discussing IVF failures and how it is the responsibility of every fertility specialist to find the cause of failure as soon as possible, so that no woman feels like she is playing roulette with her chances of success, her hopes and her dreams. On the same programme, the doctor offered a discount on IVF to 3 women who had repeatedly failed and the cause of their infertility had not been found.

New hope at the EmBIO clinic

I immediately called the clinic to find out more and make an appointment with the doctor. From the moment we entered EmBIO, we felt at home. The clinic was immaculate, with modern facilities and everything seemed very well organised.

Thanos Paraschos himself was friendly, asked a lot of questions to understand our background and had a positive attitude. He asked for new tests to find the cause of the failed attempts and insisted that if we did not find the cause, there was no point in trying again.

He gave us confidence in his treatment and we decided to proceed. We did all the tests and the doctor recommended tandem IVF, using my own eggs and donor eggs at the same time. If my own eggs did not develop into strong embryos, we would use eggs from an anonymous donor, specially selected to match your characteristics. This would give us the best chance of success.

She also suggested the new PRP treatments that could rejuvenate my ovaries and uterus. She thought this would help me a lot as my endometrium was very thin.

A well planned journey to treatment

Everything seemed so well planned and we agreed on everything. The doctor gave us hope that this time we would make it and leave behind all the sad memories and bitter taste of previous failures.

Treatment began in early 2022. The embryos with my own eggs did not develop well, but luckily we had the donor eggs which gave excellent quality embryos (5 day 5 blastocysts). We used 3 of them and the other 2 were frozen for the next attempt.

The PRP treatment had doubled the thickness of my endometrium and my uterus was in the best condition to receive the embryos. Two of the three were implanted and we waited anxiously for the 12 days for the pregnancy test.

A happy result: The gift of twins

When we finally got the results of the blood test and learned that I was pregnant with twins, Vlado and I hugged each other and cried for half an hour. God, what a relief… It was as if our hearts were shrouded in a veil of sadness, like a mountain of ice that suddenly melted and we were flooded again with the warmth of joy and hope.

We are incredibly grateful to our doctor, Thanos Paraschos, who helped us to become parents of two beautiful children, Jana and Milica. The doctor was with us throughout our pregnancy, from the IVF to the birth. He achieved conception and brought our little ones into the world.

We are so happy to be able to share our story and bring a message of hope and optimism to other couples struggling with infertility. We have been in your shoes, we have felt your grief and pain, hope had faded in us until our doctor came along and was able to give us what we dreamed of, our own family!

The two embryos we had frozen will not be needed as 2 children are enough for us. We had agreed that if we didn’t use them, they could be given to another couple who needed them. With all our love we hope that this couple will be found and feel the same joy that we feel now.

Be well and have strength. Keep your heart open and your thoughts positive. You never know what miracles may come your way.

Danica and Vlado
Serbia