LONDON: Her eyes light up when any of her children walk into the room. She hugs and kisses them, introducing them to all and sundry, pinches their nose and even fist bumps with them.
"They are much-wanted children and I love them very much," said Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, her voice filled with emotion, when asked what it meant for her to be a mother.
She is not shy about public displays of affection when it comes to her children, as without them, without her tireless efforts and determination to get them, Mothers Day would have been a hollow celebration to watch from the sidelines.
"I worked hard to get them," said Tunku Azizah, referring to fertility treatments often thwarted by miscarriages and stillbirths, which ended in tears and frustration.
It was almost 10 years before the then wife of the Crown Prince of Pahang, now Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, got to hold her first baby in her arms and earned the title of mother.
Opening up in a frank interview for Mothers Day, she said, "For me, when blessed with a baby, it is the biggest gift from Allah. I always tell my children, 'I had to work hard to get you all'. When the doctors were carrying out the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments, they showed me the frozen embryos and said, 'these are your babies'.
"So I always tell my children, 'you know I saw you before you were put into my tummy'."
Like every childless woman, Tunku Azizah was not spared the questions she had no answer for and the accusing looks.
Married to the then Tunku Mahkota Pahang, she had the added responsibility and burden of producing an heir to the throne. Thus she could not believe it when after numerous attempts, she finally received the good news that she was pregnant.
"For six months I didn't get out of bed, only to go to the bathroom. I was too scared to move in case that would trigger a miscarriage.
"For the first six months that Tengku Hassanal was in my tummy, I stayed in bed, prayed in bed and suffered terrible morning sickness," Tunku Azizah said about the predicament only women who had problems conceiving would understand.
When she gave birth to a son, she was so relieved that she had finally fulfilled her duty to produce an heir to the throne of Pahang.
She was then told that, in fact, all the people of Pahang had prayed that she be blessed with a son.
"Actually, at the time, I didn't mind whether it was a boy or a girl, as long as he or she was healthy."
Tunku Azizah had her first child at 35 and admitted to being too hands on, and too possessive verging on the side of jealousy should a helper hold her baby.
"I bathed them and cooked for them myself," she said.
Reflecting on what she had to go through, Tunku Azizah said she was told by her father that her grandmother had gone through the same problem, suffering six miscarriages before giving birth after 12 years of marriage.
"So, he said, you are just like my mother. You went through what my mother went through, and I pray that God gives you a child."
The then Tengku Ampuan Pahang, while in Makkah, cried and prayed and asked Allah to bless her with a child. She had 16 fertility treatments and only the 17th was successful.
"I know how women going through what I went through feel. That is why I set up the Tunku Azizah Fertility Foundation (TAFF). Now I feel like a 'mother' of the nation," she said with a laugh while expressing great joy that she was able to do something.
"There's still hope, so come and reach out to me. I would really like them to feel the beauty of finally being able to hold your baby in your arms."
Tunku Azizah went on to have more successful fertility treatments, including being blessed with twins after which, much to her joy, she was also blessed with her youngest, naturally.
Like every mother, Tunku Azizah made sure that her children have the perfect education an investment for their future.
While she prays that they find a good life partner and live a good life, she also prays that her daughters would not go through what she went through: the hardship of conceiving and complications during birth.
Now blessed with four sons and two daughters, Tunku Azizah is pained by news of abandoned and unwanted babies.
"To all mothers, Happy Mothers Day, and to those who have problems conceiving, please do not give up hope.
"Keep praying hard and reach out to me."
