I was afraid to go to any baby shower and bless any child born in the family, for the fear of people’s looks at me or their fear of envy, because I am sterile and have been married for 10 years without children. I was dreaming of having a child to fill my life with joy and warmth. One time, I saw a woman sitting with her young son, feeding and playing with him. I was distracted by them and imagined that one day I might have this same feeling. I made many proposals to my husband that he would get married and leave and have children, but he always refused. One day, my husband’s relative went for a kafala of a beautiful daughter, God bless her. The first time I saw her, my heart ached, and the tears fell down my face. Since then, I stopped eating, and I spent an entire week, thinking of kafala, until one day I submitted an application without having any expectations. Unexpectedly in the same week, the Ministry of Social Solidarity called me and asked me to prepare my papers. I was extremely thrilled, but unfortunately my husband refused the idea. I kept nagging about it until he agreed and told me to ask for the family’s opinion. I presented the idea to my mother-in-law, but she also refused and told me that it was a huge responsibility. I convinced her and she agreed. I believe that this is my destiny and God’s will. Thanks to God, the process was very easy and I received my son, Mustafa when he was 10 months old, and now, God bless him, he is 3 years old, and all those who refused were the people who were most attached and loved him very much.

“My husband told me that my son was missing and I found him, and I told him, ‘This is my son. I don’t want anyone else.’ For 7 years, my husband and I thought of kafala, but we travelled and we stopped thinking about it. I lived outside Egypt for a while until I started hearing about kafala on Facebook. I was at a very difficult stage in my life due to estrangement and loneliness. I did Umrah and prayed to God a lot. My husband agreed when I spoke to him. I actually spoke to him, but his opinion was that we were waiting until we settled in Egypt. At that time, I decided to prepare myself well, and I read a lot about kafala and law, and I watched videos about it and how to do it. At that time, I decided that I would present the idea of kafala again to my husband and that we would not have to wait and we could do kafala of our son and he would stay with us and settle comfortably later in Egypt. He said, ‘Let us think.’ And throughout the month of Ramadan, he used to ask for guidance and pray a lot, and on the first day of Eid, he said, ‘Let’s go for it’. We begin kafala procedures, and I was so happy, so I sent to the foster care institution, which put me in touch with Amani in the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Giza, who helped me very much in the procedures. The procedures were easy, thank God, but the difficult thing was waiting. It was a dreadful feeling to just wait. We traveled after the committee approved us and waited. The security inquiry took 10 months. When the security approval came, I cried, and I squealed with joy. I went to Egypt for compulsory training and in the training, I met the greatest mothers, who taught us and understood us, Professor Marwa and Professor Noura from Yalla Kafala. I really learned a lot of things from them. They made us understand and knew how much we should be prepared for our children. The day I got the approval to see my son, I was over the moon. I couldn’t wait any longer and started looking for my son everywhere I go to. Until the Wydad orphanage informed me that there was a child that we could see, I went, feeling that he was my son before even meeting him. And the first time I saw him, oh God, it was like meant to be; the similarity of our characters and his, his features, and the comfort we felt talking to him. And from here the journey started. I breastfed my son and he became my son through breastfeeding. A different feeling as he breastfed and that he remained a part of me. Days passed and I got to spend Ramadan with him and buy him Eid clothes. The best Ramadan and Eid I have ever had, I have never been happier. I prayed Eid with my son for the first time. I forgot to tell you that everybody liked my son and would want to have him the first time they see him. Thanks to God, his travel procedures were completed easily and smoothly. My friends made a surprise for us. He is now living with us, filling our lives with joy and love. May God bless him and empower us to support and raise him to be a good person.

“The day I saw her, I and her father were so confused. We did not feel anything. We were confused and did not know what feeling we were supposed to feel, but after we walked from there, we felt that we missed her greatly and our hearts got attached to her.” I am Marwa Hafez, and I went for kafala after 21 years of marriage without children. I presented it to my husband and he initially refused, but when he learned about the issue of breastfeeding and that the presence of a girl would no longer be forbidden or haram, he agreed that we would go for kafala. We made this decision in June 2021, and we began the journey of preparing the papers and submitted them on the 4th of July, 2021. The day of submitting the papers coincided with the day of Misk’s birth, and the procedures and approvals took about nine months. I swear it was like a pregnancy period. I was suffering during these nine months because I saw my daughter when she was 3 months old. Security check took a long time. I wanted to have her right away because she was sick in the hospital. I used to travel to Minya every 15 days for nine months until I received her on the 17th of March. It was only 4 days before Mother’s Day. It was as if God was comforting my heart and her father’s with her beautiful presence. It was as if my life started again. On that day, Misk came to our place, and we were preparing a party to welcome her. My sisters and my family were all happy. A week after we received her, we held a big party for her in a large hall. We invited all our beloved friends, friends of our friends, relatives and neighbors. All of them were happy and it was a day that we still talk about to this day. Praise be to God, it has been a year since Misk got in my life, and this is the year in which I was born. Every Mother's Day, I hold you in my arms, and every day I hold you in my arms is a Mother’s Day for me. May God not deprive me of her or her presence in our lives, me and her father’s.