Kidney transplant woman gives birth in UAE

Dubai: It’s a rare occurrence in the UAE for a kidney transplant patient to have children after one year of her surgery. Yet Raabia (not her real name), 30 is a proud mother of two sons — Khalid and Zayed. The last son was born to her early this month at a hospital in Dubai.

“While it is not uncommon in the UK and other European countries for kidney transplant patients, this is the first time that an Emirati woman in the UAE has given birth after her transplant and both were normal deliveries,” says Dr Elsa De Menezes Fernandes, gynaecologist at City Hospital who was responsible for the delivery of both the babies.

“When my wife was diagnosed with failed kidneys right after our honeymoon in 2011, the doctors had given her only a 50 per cent chance of survival and now four years later, I am a proud father of two healthy boys. I am just overwhelmed with so much happiness,” says Mohammad Ali Rida, the proud father.

Raabia’s brother Khalid who donated his kidney was a 90 per cent match and the surgery was carried out at a Munich hospital in 2011. Doctors in Germany had advised her to try starting her family one year after the transplant. In 2012 Raabia had her first child and this month she delivered her second. “I am thrilled with my babies. I feel a little tired, but I cannot thank Dr Elsa enough. She monitored my condition at every step of my pregnancy,” the overjoyed mother says.