Mahhi Vij reveals losing one of her twins during IVF pregnancy and having Tara; shares ‘I was praying that atleast one of them should be with us’

While Jay Bhanushali and Mahhi Vij are foster parents to their caretakers’ kids – Khushi and Rajveer, they became parents to Tara through IVF and embraced parenthood biologically in 2019. Very recently, Mahhi opened up about her IVF journey and also revealed that she was pregnant with twins.

I was 34 when my eggs were retrieved. I did three cycles of IVF, which didn’t click. Then I informed at home that I need a break. Because back-to-back sessions of egg retrieval and transfer were happening. It wasn’t clicking. We didn’t have much knowledge back then and were quite dependant on the doctors.

The doctor was very kind. She gave me a go-ahead to try elsewhere and see. So I changed my doctor and restarted when I was 36. The new doctor saw my medical history and got an endoscopy done to check why it wasn’t clicking. She didn’t rush with me, which mostly doctors do. Make sure you have a strong uterine lining of 8mm. A weak lining won’t be able to hold the baby.

My cycle started after following doctor’s step-by-step procedure and it clicked with Taru (her daughter Tara). I went to the Gurudwara and left everything to Wahe Guru. I was feeling a bit feverish and the doctor said if I wanted to change the date. But I went ahead. Make sure, whenever you have the transfer, be well rested. After 20 days I had to come for check-up and felt that this time it was going to happen.

I asked for the reports through a friend’s mail and not Jay’s mail. But my friend couldn’t understand and he send it to Jay. Jay told me that I am pregnant with twins. I started crying. I prayed and informed our parents and close friends. The first trimester, I was on complete bed rest. I would only go for sonography and nurse would visit home to give the injections. I became much quieter and there was no social life.

The 5th month scan is very important as your baby develops organs and you get to know that your baby is good. That’s when we announced our pregnancy.

In IVF, there are chances of having multiple babies. Our Taru was A+ and the other baby was A. The baby couldn’t survive. The doctors said it was good that it’s leaving because most of the times it leaves along with the A+ baby. I was praying that it’s not our fate to have them both but atleast one should be with us.

Mahhi also answered a few questions by followers and one of them asked why she opted for IVF instead of surrogacy or adoption. Mahhi replied, “We did have surrogacy in mind. The first doctor told me, ‘why do you want to spoil your body?’ I felt a bit weird. But I wanted to do it myself. Yes, had we failed, then I would have gone for surrogacy.

Drinking, smoking and non-veg should be avoided a bit. Have ghar ka healthy khana. The less acidic you feel, the more chances of you conceiving. I had avocado, palak, and totally home-cooked meals. During IVF, I was very health conscious so that the eggs would be healthy.

Mahhi recalled, “When you want to have a baby, you don’t see or feel any pain. When I used to go to the doctor, I would see couples from all across the country. ‘Aulaad’ ek aisi cheez hai, you don’t see distance. You just go for it. When Tara happened, my doctor wasn’t in town. Tara happened in 30 weeks. The doctor said she would take a flight at night and come, but we couldn’t wait. I was thinking that my doctor is not here. But everything happened smoothly.”