I decided that I would choose her with white skin so that she would be close to me and would not be tired when she grew up because of the difference in skin color.” My name is Heba, single. I work as a pharmacist, and I am 40 years old. It was my life’s dream to be a mother, but didn’t get married. I wanted to have a daughter, but the law did not allow women, who never got married, to do kafala. I knew that the law changed and I watched videos of Marwa and Yasmina, who gave me new hope in life, and I took the step. I submitted my papers, and thank God, it was accepted. The beautiful thing about it is that the approval came to me on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2021, and it was the most beautiful day in my life. I wanted to have a little girl so that I could live every moment with her, and share with her first laugh, her first birthday, her first baby steps, her first words. and I decided that I would choose her with white skin so that she would be close to me and would be accepted by the society when she grew up because of the difference in skin color. God willed that she is of a dark skin color and also from Upper Egypt, as if God was telling me that I am the one to choose for you, not you, and it was the best choice. God blessed me with Mariam. Praise be to God, since the day she got into my life, I was filled with happiness and love; and I still had a goal to live for, and I still had hope in life, and I always prayed that God would support me to raise her well and 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.

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.