Reema Iqbal was born in the summer of 1985, in Pakistan. She grew up in a big house with many siblings; her father was an engineer. Ella reema was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, when she grew up she had everything she ever wanted and lived a very happy life. She had three older brothers who were quite strict and extremely overprotective of her and her other sisters.

At the age of 3, her mother was mildly ill and found it difficult to cope with caring for so many children. So Reema’s father decided to remarry with his first wife’s permission so he could help out around the house. Reema was very young when this happened and she has very few childhood memories of her. The older brothers informed us that Reema’s father bought a separate house for his new wife and decided to have more children instead of helping his first wife as planned.

“I vaguely remember my father not being there much while I was growing up, coming over to the house during the day for a few hours and then going to his second wife’s house for the rest of the day and night.” (Reema Iqbal)

Although Reema was young while this was happening, it still seemed to affect her mentally by not having a father around, instead looking to her older siblings as father figures. In 2003, Reema’s father tragically passed away in a car accident leaving behind both wives and seven children.

Now, at the age of 22, it was time for Reema to get married. Her older brother was a Muslim scholar and had connections all over the world, through many phone conversations, her older brother found a tall Doctor to marry her younger sister. He seemed to be the perfect man, he was 6ft 3, fair skinned, well educated and came from a decent family, however the only downside was that he lived terribly far away in the UK.

Pictures were exchanged and both Reema and her future husband agreed to the marriage even though it meant Reema had to leave her family in Pakistan and move to a totally different country alone.

“It was extremely hard to leave my family, but I would never disobey my brother’s wishes.” (Reema Iqbal)

The marriage took place and time passed, both Reema and her husband Aqeel were happy. All the tragedies that took place in her life disappeared when she fell in love with Aqeel. Years passed and they had two beautiful children together, they lived in her own house and they couldn’t ask for anything more.

Everything was going well until one day Reema found a text message on Aqeel’s phone from another woman she was working with saying inappropriate things. Reema decided to take this matter to her mother-in-law, when her father asked Aqeel about this message, he completely denied it and said that Reema was delusional. Reema cried and thought that she would turn a blind eye to the situation for the sake of her two children, since she was previously marked by not having a father, she did not want the same life for her children.

Time passed and Reema came across another text message to prove that Aqeel was cheating on her, only this time she decided to take a picture to prove it to her father-in-law. Reema was extremely heart

Broken and couldn’t believe how her life had been turned upside down, she forgave Aqeel once, but couldn’t do it all over again. Reema filed for divorce from her and with the help of her father-in-law managed to buy a small house to live with her children. Aqeel didn’t care about Reema or her two children, since he was crazy about her lover, he didn’t care about visiting her children or asking to meet them or even calling to talk to them on the phone. He stopped providing for them and his heart grew cold.

Reema’s siblings in Pakistan heard the news and wanted her to return to Pakistan to live with them; however, Reema turned down the offer because she felt it would be a burden to them and her wives. Years passed and she struggled to take care of her children alone. One day she came across a marriage agency and decided to just go for it. She got on the phone with a member of her team and told them exactly what she was looking for in a man and told them about her past experiences. In 21 days, Reema received a match, she decided to meet this man in a coffee shop with her two children.

“He didn’t mind the fact that I already had children, he was very understanding and kind. He said to take it easy and not to make a rash decision.” (Reema Iqbal)

Sajid, who was a dentist, was a genuinely decent man, he had a different character and was very caring and supportive. Now, in 2016, Reema and Sajid live together, happily married and with Reema’s two children, they have full trust in each other. Today, Reema works as a receptionist at Sajids dentistry in the UK.

“I’ve been through hell and back, but now I feel at peace. My kids have a great father figure and I have a loving husband.” (Reema Iqbal)