IVF in Dubai

Hi Alowicious_28, we were quoted a package of AED 28,000 which included everything (medication, consultations, ultrasounds etc). When we saw Dr. Fakih he was quite blunt about us needing IVF with ICSI. I think if I was less than 35 he may have given us other alternatives, but knowing I was 39 at the time, he said it gave us higher chances of getting pregnant than having to wait for a few more months trying other methods and reducing our chances with time. He said that at 40 the chances decrease sharply and that I have a much higher chance if I do the IVF sooner than later. So we started treatment when I got my next period. They transferred 3 embryos. Two of them remained, and one of those two started shrinking until it dissappeared. And I was left with one, which was all we wanted really. Good luck in your decision and hope you get pregnant there too! Rekhs, I hope you're doing fine with the shots!

Its good to read a thread like this and Felix was good to read your experience with the transfer, can I ask how much your treatment totalled in Dhs? My DH and I are very lucky to have concieved a beautiful son following a successful Vasectomy reversal. My son is 1.5 yrs old and we decided to have a sibling for him. We have been trying since August 2011 with no luck. My DH had a SA yesterday and his very low count has decreased to 4million per ml and zero motility. We are both devastated to say the least. When we were trying for our son we were told that we would need IVF treatment and went to see Dr Fakih. I didn't know during our initial consultation that we were already 2 weeks pregnant! Dr Fakih was very to the point and 1 minute from meeting him he said we needed IVF. My DH didn't like the feel of the clinic and to be honest I didn't take to Dr Fakih at all so we went away feeling like there was no hope. I am now faced with the desicion of whether to go ahead with IVF or not so reading this thread has been very helpful. I don't work but I do look after my son full time and obviously would have to make some childcare arrangements for my visits to the clinic. Its a lot to think about! I never thought this would happen to us but at least we have been blessed with our son :) Good luck everyone

Hi Mama2012, I agree with you. I have seen New Hope while I was browsing the net. I was reluctant at first but when I had my first consultation, I did not have second thoughts of going back. And I made the right decision. I had my treatment with Dr. Asma Munir, whom as you had said was very accommodating. She is a well experienced doctor, if I am not mistaken like 20 years of experience in the IVF field. Because of my inquisitive nature, I learned that their embryologist- Dr. Jumana is as well as experienced and had worked at and established several IVF labs in the UAE and elsewhere. Like Dr. Asma, she is just as warm. You would not feel like you are under treatment there everything runs so smoothly.I had my treatment there and did my hCG (pregnancy) test yesterday! And I am pregnant now!. I'm so excited to go back and do my first scanning in two weeks time.

Thank Felix, you give me hope. I have an appointment tomorrow for consultation. Will let you know how it goes. I thought the injections make you very moody due to hormonal change and if you could have the shots during your lunch break, I think I can do it too... Thank you again for your words and sharing your experience.

Hi Rekhs, yes I was working and still am. So I used to go at lunchtime for my shots. I remember taking 2 days off at some point. That was for the day I did the egg collection and the day after. And it's better you rest the day of embryo transfer, just to be on the safe side. So no need to take unpaid leave really. You can take sick leave instead! The doctor can give you a paper for that so you can give to your employer. Wish you the best of luck! Please let me know how it goes and if you get pregnant.

Hi Felix, thank you sooo much for your response. I am like you and the thought of injections are just driving me insane but I know it's a journey to cherish the most beautiful feeling of entering motherhood. Your story/ experience has given me hope and for that I thank you. Were you working when you did your ivf? My work is pretty hectic and the only way I think I will relax is taking unpaid leave and go thru this treatment! Thank you again, best, Rekhs

Hi Rekhs. My journey was a little bumpy at the start. Mainly because I have a big phobia of needles and was so scared, especially since the nurse told me she will inject it below my belly button. I wasn't prepared for that! And while standing up! She told me it wasn't painful, but for me I did feel the pain of the medicine right after she had done the injection and the pain lasted around 2 minutes. I was really overwhelmed with that experience and thought I wouldn't want to do it again. So I went back the next day and told them I wanted to stop the treatment. A very nice nurse called Vivian asked me why and when I explained she told me to give it one more try and then decide. She lay me down on a reclining bed and she rubbed some Emla cream next to my belly button and a few minutes later she gave me the shot. I was pleasantly suprised that I barely felt it. So I decided to continue provided only Vivian gave me those shots. I took them for around 9 or 10 days, and then I went for my egg collection around 2 days later. I'll skip the part where I made a scene when they wanted to administer the IV (again another needle!) but soon I was sleeping and when I woke up it was over! I got up and walked to the car but it felt like I had cramps or a heavy period. Nothing you can't tolerate, so I was ok with that. It lasted for around 2 days. I did the embryo transfer 5 days later. They tell you to have a full bladder, but it was morning and I really had to go! So I did and started drinking water one hour before the transfer. I drank 4 cups and it was perfect. The embryo transfer was a piece of cake it was much less painful than a pap smear! So the whole process lasted around 17 days but you have to go back for a blood test around 4 days after embryo transfer so they check your hormones, and another one after another 4 days to confirm if you are pregnant. I hope this was helpful!

Interesting. Never heard of them. But have heard that the pregnancy rates at Fakih IVF are the highest in the region. They have recently posted them on their website (I follow them on Twitter). You can find them here http://fakihivf.com/success-rates/ I was their patient two years ago and achieved a pregnancy from the first time. I was 39 then. I guess if one is really looking to get pregnant, then that's the place to go. My husband and I had done a great deal of research before we decided to visit. The doctor there is called Dr. Michael Fakih who is apparently one of the top fertility doctors in the world. So we heard. Another good thing is you don't need to wait for weeks before you see him. They can give you an appointment really quickly, but when you arrive, you have to wait for at least half an hour before he sees you. Their contact details are on their website http://www.fakihivf.com and I have always recommended them to all my best friends. Dear Felix, I need your input and if the procedure was painful? I am planning to visit the clinic but need to know from someone who has been there as how long the whole procedure takes from the start of injections till the embryos are put back in the womb. Any guidance would be highly appreciated. God bless. edited by Rekhs on 16/04/2012 <em>edited by Rekhs on 16/04/2012</em>

Interesting. Never heard of them. But have heard that the pregnancy rates at Fakih IVF are the highest in the region. They have recently posted them on their website (I follow them on Twitter). You can find them here http://fakihivf.com/success-rates/ I was their patient two years ago and achieved a pregnancy from the first time. I was 39 then. I guess if one is really looking to get pregnant, then that's the place to go. My husband and I had done a great deal of research before we decided to visit. The doctor there is called Dr. Michael Fakih who is apparently one of the top fertility doctors in the world. So we heard. Another good thing is you don't need to wait for weeks before you see him. They can give you an appointment really quickly, but when you arrive, you have to wait for at least half an hour before he sees you. Their contact details are on their website http://www.fakihivf.com and I have always recommended them to all my best friends.

Hi, I am new to this thread and I just wanted to share the wonderful experience I had with a Fertility Hospital in Sharjah. I have had 3 unsuccessful attempts at a known IVF Hospital in Sharjah and with the big difference I had in these two Hospitals I could not help but compare them. The doctor in the first hospital is obviously money oriented, who does not even empathize with his patients emotionally. In barely 15 minutes your consultation with him is over, leaving you with so many an unanswered queries on your mind..With my longing to find a centre who would not only help me get pregnant but more importantly who would satisfy my unending questions and still give me the feeling of importance as thier patient, go to New Hope Gynaecology and Fertility Hospital in Al Mamzar Sharjah. Once you enter the Hospital, you could feel a very soothing ambience. It's a one of a kind - state of the ART Hospital - very high tech and the staff are very accommodating and friendly. The doctor - Dr Asma Munir has a motherly touch.She let me know the HOW'S AND WHY'S that has been on my mind for years regarding pregnancies/babies. You would not believe , I stepped out the hospital feeling so satisfied only on my initial consultation. Now I'm 18 weeks pregnant from New Hope Gynaecology and Fertility Hospital. You can contact them at 06 5254446. <em>edited by mama2012 on 10/03/2012</em>

[b'>I just wanted to share some info about IVF clinic in Tawam Hospital in Al Ain. [/b'> It used to be a reputable unit with good doctors. We had to wait for an appointment for at least 6 month. And when we at last got there we were surprised to know that out of 3 ivf doctors the only left is local lady(does not seem very professional)). We had to wait for 3 hrs to see her for 15 min. Apparetly Dr Robertson (we hoped to meet him) has left and another doctor had to go on emergency leave. Nevertheless they did charge us as 2 consultations for 2 people (in Australia we both had an appointment and paid just for 1 consultation). The pricelist provided suggested that IVF full cycle would cost us approximately 20-25,000 Dhr and ICSI was about extra 10,000 Dhr. It means that for about 10,000USD I would get not very professional treatment and I will have to do the full cycle again and again if fail in the first one. Because local legislation prevents IVF clinics from freezing embrios. Sounds very invasive and expensive!!!! Just for comparison, IVF full cycle in Australia costs about 7,295 plus other costs totalling less than 10,000USD for uninsured patients. There are other countries not so far away which offers IVF and donor eggs and surrogacy. The costs are lower and the quality of services is higher than here. For example, Ukraine (I was born there), is only 4.5 hrs away from UAE. I went there and visited a few clinics. At the moment I am planning to do IVF in Nadia clinic. The costs is about half of the above. They have quite experienced and wll educated doctors and lab scientists. There is also a possibility to freeze the embrios and use them later in a regular cycle (you can avoid those horrible hormonal injections). Their web-site http://www.ivf.com.ua/en/ My point is before deciding on doing IVF here look around and search for what is good for you. Do not go with the flow and start this terrible procedure with a third-class doctor because hie/her clinic is nearby. If you need more info, please do not hesitate to contact me. I have some experience in IVF full cycle and a frozen embrio transfer. We also have a beautiful baby (born after FET).

Dear Sydneygal, If you can pass on the Good Word to me too, I would be Oh so grateful! As to the rest of the thread, I am also recommending Dr. Fakikh. I am seeing him now and am on try #3....2 BFNs but I love the clinic, the team and how comfortable they make me feel. Does anyone know of another good acupuncturist besides at Dubai Herbal and Treatment or Chalsu clinics? I need treatments ASAP but they are book till next month.

hi ladies, I just wanted to see if anyone was interested in a self-fertility massage that you can do on yourself - if so I can send you the info. I'd been trying for almost 3 years, and this was one new thing I did for the 2 months prior to falling pregnant, and my friend who was trying for almost 2 years also did it and is now pregnant. Of course I don't know if this was the one thing that worked - I had also been doing acupuncture with Dr Ou for ages, plus had really tried to drink more water and eat about 90% organic, so perhaps it was a combination of all those things or just divine timing, but I do believe it helped and I'd love to share it with anyone who is interested. Email me on caterina underscore strano at yahoo dot com dot au - I can email you the instructions on how to do the massage. It's very easy and soothing, you do it from end of period to ovulation. The massage is supposed to help with increasing circulation to all the reproductive organs, hormonal balance, helping a tilted uterus, can help to clear congestion from cysts and fibroids amongst many other things...check out this link - http://natural-fertility-info.com/fertility-massage My sister in law in the US sent me the DVD and I've written down the instructions (as I passed on to other friends) so am more than happy to send them to anyone. Hi Sydneygal, I know you posted this ages ago but I am rather new to the forum and only seen this today, so hope you do not mind me e-mailing you to get the instructions, as someone very close to me would probably love to try this out, after having tried many different things unsuccessfully.

hi natalie.shahrokni May God bless ur precious 4 kids, they are a gift from god....enjoy each single moment nd take gd care of them. I just do not agree on one point mentionned in ur comment below and which is" Conceive opens 24/7 for their pts " because one of my gd friends was following with dr pankaj nd was getting stimulation for IUI later nd during that time there was one day off in the middle of the week as PUBLIC HOLIDAY nd wht happened is that no one of his team gave her a call any day before to inform her to come nd collect her medication at least with a prescription to take on that day later her dose outside in a hospital....she was having an emergency nb nd she contacted them but z nurse who answered said that they can't do anything for her coz it s a day off nd they are nt in duty. My point is they should give more priorities for their patients nd arrange a way for such situations. I referred my friend to Dr Fakih nd she was very satisfied coz even on Friday they are opening the clinic for 2 hrs to provide the injections for their pts. BEST OF LUCK

Dear All, I dont understand it how any of your oby/gynae doctors never recommend you where to go, I had several in my life and all agree that Dr Pankaj and his team are absolutely the best. Dr Pankaj has been doing it for about 20 years, he has proven results, of his own work, not someone else's statictics, his team is highly qualified and all his doctors and nurses have been with him for ages. I have 4 kids now, one 3 year old and triplets of 10 months, and honestly, I do not know where we would be without his team and efforts they put in to every patient. and yes, they work 24/7! However, I also would like to suggest that those undergoing IFV or ICSI try simultaneously to attend accupuncture and herbal treatments with Dubai Herbal and Treatment centre. I happened to see a program on CNN and they were explaining as to why in China IFV treatments have almost double success rate from those international standards, a lot of it, and I personally now agree, is attributed to holistic approach. I miscarried twice, then I was told my blood circulation was very poor, which is why the babies wouldnt attach well, underwent the treatment with Dubai herbal centre - and it is important you do it along with traditional IFV injections etc, as acupuncture has to be done at the same time, even twice on the day of the transfer - one before and the second - after. Then I had triplets, never so many attached a survived! I am so so so grateful to God and of course all those who helped me through all the process - Dr Pankaj from Conceive center and Dr Leila Soudah - with the pregnancy and delivery! Good luck and I hope everything goes well for all of you! Cheers edited by natalie.shahrokni on 09/03/2011 <em>edited by natalie.shahrokni on 10/03/2011</em>

hi ivfuae May God bless ur litle precious charming son....they are gift from God...May Allah Gives Everyone the chance of having healthy kids coz life with them has a different meaning. The prices at Dr Fakih Clinic are nt very cheap comparing with z others but we should know that we are paying more for many factors: -it s a clinic based in jumeirah -Dr Fakih is very expert nd professionnal nd used to work in ivf since more than 25 years...his original clinic is in Michigan so he s bringing to UAE the most updated protocoles in otherwords we can tell INSTEAD OF GOING TO USA FO TREATMENT COME TO DR FAKIH....AMERICA IS HERE . -the timing is from 9am to 9pm....so for z working ladies they can come after finishing their work to do their injections, bld tests or scans. -the staffs are very friendly and lovely particularly Madonna who s very educated nd civilized....they make you feel home since the first visit. -Finally the new clinic is based in dubai so no more tripping to AD. for all z ladies i advice you to try Dr Fakih....nd i wish you all to be pregnant. Regarding the matter of Egg Donar nd sperm Donar...it s ellegal in uae so better no to discuss it on the thread. best of luck everyone

Hi lovelygirl , I totally agree with u, IVF doctors are not charity nor voluntary doctors. They are all there to make money, here or any other country for that matter. Dr Fakih is little pricey compared to Dr P at Conceive for example (a close friend went to him and then got pregnant receiving treatment from Dr Fakih). She said Conceive charged 16.000AED but excluded medications, blood test and ultra sounds, where as Dr Fakih charges 25,000AED but that includes consultation, ultra sounds, blood test and most importantly stim drugs. My friend was not successful at Conceive, but says they are good clinic, price difference is very little and she switched as she did not want to drive to Sharjah. I guess it is cheaper to run a clinic in Sharjah then in Jumeriah 1. As for Dr Fakih carting people off to Lebanon, I understand that egg/sperm sharing is not permitted in the UAE, so he does take certain patients to USA or Lebanon. Surely he can't take them unless they want to go themselves. He is not that good! :) He did used to take patients to Abu Dhabi, where he also has in clinic at the Emirates Hospital, for egg retrieval and embryo transfer. He will be opening a new centre (next month I think feb 2011) on Al Wasl Road, as he now fully licensed to IVF here in Dubai. I would recommend Dr Fakih also, I did not want to drive to Sharjah, for the small price difference. The government one here in Dubai was so hard to get hold off, no one picking up the phone, short opening hours, then finally went there in person to be told that they are not taking on any new patients. Anyway went Fakih on some ones recommendation. The BEST decision I ever made. I am holding the dearest person I have in this world as I type this. I have my son, and I would drive to AD thousands times for him, its a very small inconvenience Best of luck everyone on your IVF journey and wish you all the best. <em>edited by ivfuae on 23/01/2011</em>

I recommend Enjab Hospital , Dr. Ashraf is great he knows what he's doing,I did my IVF this month with him and I'm waiting to do my BETA tomorrow ..wish me luck! but if I'm unfortunate and had a BFN i"ll still re-try with Dr. Ashraf.

hi girls...i m new on the thread...nice to meet all of you nd share my experience of ivf , we can share opinions nd help eachother to make best decisions. I did a cycle of ivf in 2009 with Dr Fakih( our infertility prob was due to male factor)...nd i got pregnant with my son since z first trial...he s 1 yr old now. i was very excited durin z treatment nd i got all z necessar explanation since z first consultation with Dr Fakih. we all noticed that th Doctors in UAE are here to make money but at least Dr Fakih is providing a gd quality of medical services nd successuful treatments in reverse nd this s very important cause we r reaching our goal with him. i liked z staffs there nd specially Madonna who gave me a lot of support nd follow up additional she was answering all my calls at anytime. if u r really confused abt which fertility clinic to try i advice u to try Dr Fakih clinic nd they are giving FREE CONSULTATION for all z patients referred through z internet websites. Best of luck everyone

Sydneygal im new here on dont know how to email via here ... Id be really interested to know about this x

hi ladies, I just wanted to see if anyone was interested in a self-fertility massage that you can do on yourself - if so I can send you the info. I'd been trying for almost 3 years, and this was one new thing I did for the 2 months prior to falling pregnant, and my friend who was trying for almost 2 years also did it and is now pregnant. Of course I don't know if this was the one thing that worked - I had also been doing acupuncture with Dr Ou for ages, plus had really tried to drink more water and eat about 90% organic, so perhaps it was a combination of all those things or just divine timing, but I do believe it helped and I'd love to share it with anyone who is interested. Email me on caterina underscore strano at yahoo dot com dot au - I can email you the instructions on how to do the massage. It's very easy and soothing, you do it from end of period to ovulation. The massage is supposed to help with increasing circulation to all the reproductive organs, hormonal balance, helping a tilted uterus, can help to clear congestion from cysts and fibroids amongst many other things...check out this link - http://natural-fertility-info.com/fertility-massage My sister in law in the US sent me the DVD and I've written down the instructions (as I passed on to other friends) so am more than happy to send them to anyone. Hey Sydneygal I would be really interested to hear more about the massage. I will email you. Thanks in advance! :) <em>edited by dubai71 on 10/01/2011</em>

Hi Mullbery, Sorry about your experience at Dr Fakih. I had my son through IVF, I found Dr Fakih to be very professional. If you go to fertility friends website, there is a special section for Dubai, a lot of women there had babies through him. He is licensed to do IVF in Dubai, and the new clinic on Al Wasl Road will open soon, NO MORE DRIVE TO AD, though it was only for retrieval and transfer. I really like the clinic, the staff are really friendly, his website fakihivf.com provides all the information including the prices, they are open 6 days a week, also open till late in the evening, which is really convenient especially when you are working. Anyway I am thankful to god and then Dr Fakih for my child. All the best.