Former “GNTM” candidate Fata Hasanovic is expecting her first child. The 28-year-old has been diagnosed with endometriosis for five years.
Pregnant despite endometriosis? It worked for model and influencer Fata Hasanovic (28). The 28-year-old and her partner Izet are expecting their first child together. “I’m almost in the fourth month,” explains the “GNTM” third from 2016 in an interview with spot on news.
Hasanovic has been living with the diagnosis of endometriosis for five years. The complex disease is also known as the “chameleon of gynaecology” because symptoms and courses can vary greatly. Frequently described signs are severe lower abdominal pain and unwanted childlessness. “We’ve been trying to get pregnant for over a year,” Hasanovic describes her “exhausting path” and looks with gratitude at her personal little miracle.
Congratulations dear Fata, you are pregnant for the first time. How are you currently feeling?
Fata Hasanovic: I feel very good. However, I am very, very tired throughout the day. My body is doing an incredible miracle right now, so I give it the breaks it needs. Other than that, I don’t have any particular cravings – apart from apples – but I’m glad it’s something healthy.
What month are you in, can you see anything already?
Hasanovic: I’m almost in the fourth month – currently in the 15th week. You’re starting to see your stomach and unfortunately the jeans don’t fit anymore. You can already see everything on the ultrasound – little fingers, little legs, the head. It already looks like a real human, only that everything is small.
How difficult was it for you to get pregnant despite having endometriosis?
Hasanovic: It was definitely very exhausting. We’ve been trying to get pregnant for over a year. I never gave up hope that it would work out someday, but I didn’t know how. Shortly after I was diagnosed with endometriosis, the doctors put a lot of pressure on me. I have to have children right away, otherwise it won’t work later because things are looking so bad for me. I was 23 at the time. My blood work indicated I wasn’t ovulating. In the end I was totally confused. It seemed like there was no other option but to have an insemination done at a KIWU clinic. A doctor prescribed hormone pills for two weeks and I felt really bad: I had extreme mood swings, crying fits, hunger pangs and hot flashes. Every visit to the doctor was frustrating.
How is the disease affecting you?
Hasanovic: The interesting thing about endometriosis is that it is different for every woman and often goes unnoticed. I always have very bad cramps on the third day of my period. I always thought that as a woman you have to go through with it. While I never vomited or had fainting spells, it often felt like a knife was stabbed in my lower abdomen, preventing me from moving at first. I finally got the diagnosis during an ordinary examination when I wanted to have a hormone spiral inserted for contraception.
Did the baby news come as a surprise to you?
Hasanovic: Absolutely! I was speechless when I saw the positive test and couldn’t believe it. I felt like a chosen one. What I? The one who was just sitting in the KIWU clinic and only got negative diagnoses? How could all of this suddenly happen? We had already put the topic aside for this year and then shortly before Christmas the news came as our small, personal Christmas miracle.
How did you share the good news with your partner?
Hasanovic: We were just shooting content for my social media channel and I was holding something behind my back in a video. Izi asked me what I have there. Then I got out the tests and at first he didn’t even understand what I had in my hand. I just said: Izi, the pregnancy test is positive! Then we just hugged each other and I burst into tears. He only started crying later, when he realized what really happened.
You both have a strange love story in common, were you actually engaged to other partners?
Hasanovic: Exactly. Izi is my first great love. We were together before in 2012, but we were both totally green behind the ears. It didn’t fit at all because we were at completely different points in life at the time. We broke up after eight months at the end of 2013 and he then emigrated to Australia. During this time we got to know other partners and were both about to get married. I never thought about him until I met his aunt on a bus in Berlin. She told me that he had just returned to Berlin from Australia. I sent him my regards and three days later I got a message on Facebook apologizing for how things had gone back then. Then we started talking on the phone and eventually I risked everything. I ended my engagement, Izi and I got to know each other in a completely new way. We quickly realized: This is it! He, too, eventually ended his engagement. After three months we moved in together and five years later I can still say that it was the best decision of my life.
What about the wedding plans, do you want to get married before the baby is born?
Hasanovic: No, there are no wedding plans.
You currently live in Dubai. Are you now drawn back to Germany?
Hasanovic: We will stay in Dubai for the time being as we have just extended our visa. Dubai is a great place to live. Nevertheless, I miss my mom extremely, especially now that I am becoming a mother myself, I feel such a feeling of love and need her closeness and support.
You made your breakthrough with “Germany’s next top model”. Are you following the current season?
Hasanovic: Unfortunately not like before. I used to think it was so much more worthwhile to do there. It was so hard to get into the show and you really wanted to be a model. There is nothing reprehensible about simply being an influencer. But don’t go on the show for reach. It’s easy to disguise yourself, but as an influencer you need your own personality, which isn’t always just sweet and nice. People love it when you have a clear opinion and can defend your point of view. It’s natural and approachable to have rough edges.
How do you feel about the allegations that are repeatedly made against the talent show?
Hasanovic: I myself had positive and negative experiences. The show isn’t always a bed of roses, but it has completely changed my life for the better – and I’m very grateful for that. After that you are actually quite well prepared for this business, which can sometimes be a real shark tank. You have to get a thick skin for the show and afterwards. The job in public is tough and not for everyone.