‘They accused me of lying, why would anyone fake pregnancy?’

In November, the same year, when she consulted doctors at the facility for a routine check-up, ahead of the due date, the same doctor told her that it was a cyst and not a baby. Haseena, a resident of Kannagi Nagar is now in her husband’s native town in Vandavasi, undergoing treatment for a medical condition she has no idea about. “I haven’t had my periods for a long time now and the doctor here is treating me with injections. She has told me, I have to wait till my periods resume naturally without any medicines,” she says. 

In December 2015, she was referred by the same doctor to Gosha Hospital, after she developed severe stomach pain during her menstrual cycle. “The doctors asked me to get admitted immediately as I had a cyst in my stomach. I was operated upon in January and was discharged in a few days,” she recollects. After she missed her periods for two months, Haseena’s family brought her back to the facility. “I was made to undergo a urine test and they confirmed that I was pregnant. My husband (Amir Ali, a trader) and I were delighted. We had waited for eight years for this day,” she adds.

Since then, all her scans and tests were conducted at the hospital. Even if she was in Vandavasi, she came back to Chennai to get treated even for a mild fever. “After every visit, they made notes in my case sheet about my baby’s progress. They told me I was going to have a healthy baby and they had even told me how much he or she would weigh. I have completed school till Class 10. Since I don’t know to read English, I couldn’t follow the notes in my case sheet. But the doctor at the private scan centre told me they couldn’t have made these notes, if I wasn’t pregnant. In fact, my husband wanted to do a scan outside just to get the baby scan framed for keepsake, like my brother-in-law and his wife had done. The doctor refused to give a reference letter for it, saying that I should trust them. They asked me, after waiting for eight years, couldn’t I wait for a few months to see my baby,” she says, stifling tears. She adds, “My family members took turns to host baby showers for me. Everyone was so happy.” 

After her delivery date was fixed at November 8, 2016, she returned to the hospital to get admitted a day earlier. “The doctor said I could wait for a week. The next week, I was told I had a cyst as well and asked me to get admitted the next week. When I returned, they told me again that I could wait. I asked them, how could I be made to wait, after it was well past my due date. The doctor grabbed me by my hand and took me to the scan room and said, “You have a cyst in your stomach, who said you were pregnant? Go to OP no 52. I was stunned,” she says. “All this while I was made to believe I was pregnant; I could even feel my baby moving inside me. My husband who doesn’t touch alcohol, came home drunk the day he learnt that I was not pregnant.”

After getting a scan done at a private centre, Haseena and her family came back to Gosha Hospital to meet the doctor who was treating her. “The chief doctors met us and refused to let us see the concerned doctor. They said more than 100 patients came to the centre every day and such mistakes were bound to happen. They assured they will now take good care of me,” she says. 

A protest staged by the family made the consumer court issue a notice to the hospital. “However, it has been more than two months. I am yet to hear from any authority on this. They accused me of lying. Why would anyone fake pregnancy?” she asks.

However, Haseena is hopeful that she will be a mother soon. “My family is extremely supportive, but Chennai reminds me of my ordeal. I am hoping that my doctor in Vandavasi will make us realise our dream. I wish no other woman has to undergo such struggle,” she says.