IVF Success in Dubai at 40+ anyone?

Thanks awayfromhome :) Its ok she called me and I'm doing the insulin test on Saturday now after two failed attempts at getting out of the door due to not being ready on time and little man playing up lol!! Had some good news tho, they found some swimmers in DH's sample (yay!) so they are now on ice and he is taking Proxeed to see if the count and motility will improve so he can give a fresh cycle on my egg collection date. I do feel a bit in limbo now tho because I don't know whats going to happen next or when I am supposed to get in touch with them or if they will do any hormone tests on me in my next cycle. Plus I am on CD36 today and I still haven't ovulated yet (I normally do on CD32 to cd36) and there is no sign of it happening at all - typical!

Good luck alowicious28, just having a nose and read your post! Dr.Munira's nurse is called Lourdes. I have her mobile number if you can't get though on mainline. Hilsbils, so much luck with the scan this week x

Love happy endings :) I started off BFing my DS but then was told by the hospital to stop due to my illness after the birth. I was so gutted so I expressed for 4 days to keep the milk there, and then we tried again but he wouldn't latch properly despite the LC helping me :( So it was back to expressing for me and after 6 weeks of feeling like a cow I gave up and bottle fed him with formula. I had my meeting with Dr Munira this week. Lovely lady, she was very informative and personable and we both liked her which is important. DH is off to Concieve tomorrow to open our file and give a SS for assesment. If there are some there they will freeze them ready for our first attempt at icsi. I am having an insulin test as I have PCOS and she wants to see if I should up my dose of metformin which I have been taking for weightloss. I am on CD31 of my cycle and haven't ov'd yet and she could see a large follicle on my right ovary (which normally doesn't work!) so I am guessing I won't see af until another 3 weeks now. However she wants me to wait until my next cycle before we start which will mean waiting till the end of November. We have a guest coming then so don't really want to be starting hormone treatment and ranting about with a friend staying in the house! I have a plan :) If they don't find any swimmers on sunday then we may go to Dr Fakih to get started on my next af. I am still waiting for Dr Munira's nurse to call me about the insulin test - does anyone remember her name? think I will have to call her.

Sharing a success story of a 45 yr old frnd who delivered a bonny baby in June this year. After 2 failed IVF cycles she conceived naturally. As per the docs, the hormone surges remain in the body but yes, she was monitoring her ovulation very carefully. Lovely story! I also heard of a friend of mine back in Ireland who is 46 who is pregnant with twin girls. Amazing miracle

Sharing a success story of a 45 yr old frnd who delivered a bonny baby in June this year. After 2 failed IVF cycles she conceived naturally. As per the docs, the hormone surges remain in the body but yes, she was monitoring her ovulation very carefully.

Ah thanks ladies for the kind words and support. I have told no-one and its been a bit weird keeping it all a secret but kinda exciting too. Our families will be delirious as I think they have given up on all of us adult siblings who have shown no interest in having kids. Im amazed at how much is involved - as everything I read and google throws up a whole new pandoras box. Breast feeding for example - who knew how hard that is?!

Aww nice to hear from you and despite tiredness and everything else your going through, I'm sure it will all be worth it! Hope week 7 comes soon for you too. I'm planning to make an appointment at Fakih ivf next month, not looking at doing ivf just yet but wanted to see them to do tests on me etc. just waiting for my DH to do his analysis thing first at the docs then I can take results along after that but in the meantime in looking after myself, eating better, exercising, no alcohol either. Anyway keep relaxing and be good to yourself x We had also hoped to simply to lots of tests at Dr Fakih before deciding on next move, but after a 5 minute chat he said "lets go! Come next period and we start full IVF" and so I ended up moving across to Dr Munira instead. But he gets good results so if you feel like leaping before knowing, he is probably the doc to use.

Aww nice to hear from you and despite tiredness and everything else your going through, I'm sure it will all be worth it! Hope week 7 comes soon for you too. I'm planning to make an appointment at Fakih ivf next month, not looking at doing ivf just yet but wanted to see them to do tests on me etc. just waiting for my DH to do his analysis thing first at the docs then I can take results along after that but in the meantime in looking after myself, eating better, exercising, no alcohol either. Anyway keep relaxing and be good to yourself x

HB, Believe me its not the age! I was dead tired first 8w, literally dead tired, and backache until 16weeks.

Hoping to feel some nausea as I need some help in curbing all these carbs :) But its all good really. Cant wait for the 12 week hump to be over. Ha! HB Be careful with what you wish for re the sickness ;) , nausea comes on about week 6 (although some lucky ones get away with it) . I was sick as a parrot all day and night for around 2 months after with both mine, most food smells made me gag, I had to cook dinners with a peg on my nose (no kidding)..... twas horrible. Not sure about the hot and cold, but extreme tiredness is normal, even for those younger (I was younger with my first, early 30s and felt the same). <em>edited by Alismum on 04/09/2012</em>

Hi Qs I'm ok. Still very cautiously optimistic and have some very nasty side effects from the progesterone. Despite it being early days I feel like my body has been taken over by an alien force :-) I am however feeling my age, I think, as I have no energy to walk or work on my stamina and feeling tired all the time. Know its normal but also know that when I was younger I would have withstood it a bit better maybe? Im only at the end of week 5, starting week 6 and next week at week 7 I go for the first scan. Worried and excited about that one. I hope its all developing normally. I am also moving between feeling very hot and cold and wonder if I have just become very heat sensitive? But i am shivering one minute and roasting hot the next. Hoping to feel some nausea as I need some help in curbing all these carbs :) But its all good really. Cant wait for the 12 week hump to be over.

Hi Hllsbils, how are you? Do you get another scan soon to find out how many babies? Been thinking of you.

Hello allowicious. Its definitely IVF too. Up to 17k usd. Good luck. Keep me posted!xx Wow!! I just read all our insurance documents and saw they mention something about 18 months, I am guessing you have to be with them for 18 months before they will pay for IVF? or does it mean that you can have the treatment 18 months from the date you get diagnosed as infertile? There's a little spark of excitement in me now thinking that if we can get two goes paid for on the insurance then that means we can have 4 goes altogether before we have to do some more saving!! hope my excitement doesn't get put out!!! Thanks for your help confusion & everyone. Hillsbils, I had nothing until 6 weeks when the sickness and nausea came on me and I lost a whole stone in weight because I could barely eat anything until 16 weeks!!! My friend put 4 stone on in her pregnancy but it was mainly bloating/water retention as her baby was 6lbs in weight (mine was nearly 10!!!). Hope you're feeling ok x

Hi confusion! Hope you are keeping well and not too busy? I had hot flushes and weight gain my whole adult life... ugh. Always felt like a sweaty whale. Hope to see you soon. xx

Confusion I have Arab orient insurance, do they actually pay towards Ivf or just for diagnosis of infertility?

Hi Quicksilver, Dr. Munira used to sometimes work out of the meadows but now only does her consultations from Dubai Mall and is then at conceive on a sun, tues and thurs am.

I've seen on previous posts that Dr. Munira sometimes worked at the clinic in The Meadows? Is this still the case?

Thanks for all information, I think the only problem will be they don't have schedule during saturday, as per the injection I'am doing it to myself from my previous doctor, the nurse teaches me how to do it, so i dont need to pay and come to the hospital for the shots. I wish best of luck for both of us.

Hi, I have AXA insurance (Starplus) and they covered my previous infertility treatments. I'm planning to start my IVF treatment with Dr. Munira because I heard a lot of good things about her. I will have my first schedule with her after Eid. Goodluck to all of us. She has been awesome and I think the only all women team in the UAE doing this? The lab techs, the nurses etc all women so far. But very switched on. The only thing I got stressed out about was the fact that her and her fab nurse (who helps you with lots of the injections etc) do not work on Fri and Sat so you need to watch your calendar carefully, so for example if your period falls on a Thursday you will need to have your injections prescription in your hand in advance so you can do that over the weekend until you can see Munira again. The Dubai Mall medical centre pharmacy sells all the meds and keeps them for you until you need the next dose, and the nurses on duty will inject for you. Some Dhs apparently do injections but I thought it too risky as there are a lot of small fiddly vials - sometimes 9 - which have to be joined into one injection etc. Use Emla to numb your injection sites as some are icky. For transfer and retrieval you go to Sharjah and meet Munira there. Good luck!!

Hi, I have AXA insurance (Starplus) and they covered my previous infertility treatments. I'm planning to start my IVF treatment with Dr. Munira because I heard a lot of good things about her. I will have my first schedule with her after Eid. Goodluck to all of us.

I just wanted to say good luck to everyone who is currently undergoing IVF, I am in my late 30's and will going through the same process in a year or so once we get our finances a bit more under control. Can anyone tell me the approx cost to have IVF in Dubai (including everything) and is there any medical insurance policies that cover pregnancy and IVF? Thanks It was a big factor for us too as Im not working. Please also do a search here as there are a few threads about IVF costs, mostly with me asking everyone The guy with best statistics is Dr Fakih in Dubai but we chose not to go with him as he wanted to "start right away with the start of your next period" No pre-tests or any information to go on before starting and I felt rushed. He charges a flat rate of 28k for the whole cycle. We wanted to pay for each step as it happened in case it failed halfway through. We also wanted to freeze any extra embryos which saves a fortune as you dont need to do the full cycle every time in case it fails. Only AD and Sharjah allow freezing so with Drs in Dubai you start again from the beginning. I ended up opting for Dr Munira at Dubai Mall Medical centre who is Dr Pankaj's (owner of Conceive in Sharjah) senior doc there. But we had medical insurance which covered our appointments with her and the endocrinologist at Dubai Mall and even a few blood tests (the med insurance were told it was for "hypothyroidism" and "Insulin resistance" - both true - but werent told that it was also for IVF :cool:) In my case we did loads of tests and even delayed for a month to get my thyroid tests balanced before starting. Because of my low egg reserve we went with highest medication dose and paid for the meds ourselves - 7600 aed, and then paid Conceive for the egg retrieval, transfer and also meds and anesthetic which came to 14k. But we then had another 4k of pre-treament paid for by the insurance company and to be honest it was particular for my own case of abnormal blood tests. The other costs are the AMH blood test which is the most pricey (I would advise doing it now.... you will know your egg reserve / fertility age) which was 1800aed and the prolactin tests which was another 500aed. Overall we probably spent 26k with Munira but I feel we covered every single base, did every conceivable blood test and prepared me very well for the treatment. Its not cheap!! But UK prices are around 6-8 k sterling so still cheaper here. I hear very good things about the centre in Healthcare City - Dr Wael and Mohammed which is a govt organization so perhaps they are cheaper? Very good luck to you. Its been intense emotionally but physically easier than I expected. Not much pain - just lots of running around and inconvenience. <em>edited by hilsbils on 14/08/2012</em>

I just wanted to say good luck to everyone who is currently undergoing IVF, I am in my late 30's and will going through the same process in a year or so once we get our finances a bit more under control. Can anyone tell me the approx cost to have IVF in Dubai (including everything) and is there any medical insurance policies that cover pregnancy and IVF? Thanks

Hey ladies, I'm 38 and starting IVF in the next two months depending on when af arrives!!! I am blessed to have a DS already but absolutley desperate to have a sibling for him. I have PCOS but that doesn't affect me getting pregnant apart from it makes my cycles longer so I have less chances to try than everyone else, our problem this time is with my DH who is azoospermic now, he is 47. Good luck with your treatments and fingers crossed for a positive outcome for you all. Good luck with that ! Dr Fakih (whom we had considered but chose not to go to) said that he found for IVF in "older mums". PCOS is a major advantage !! Apparently more follicles to harvest from

Hey ladies, I'm 38 and starting IVF in the next two months depending on when af arrives!!! I am blessed to have a DS already but absolutley desperate to have a sibling for him. I have PCOS but that doesn't affect me getting pregnant apart from it makes my cycles longer so I have less chances to try than everyone else, our problem this time is with my DH who is azoospermic now, he is 47. Good luck with your treatments and fingers crossed for a positive outcome for you all.

Hi hilsbils, i want to wish u goodluck on your ongoing IVF treatment, i will say a prayer for u each night. Your success will give me and other ladies hope, as i have the same low ovarian reserve. Im taking DHEA, and hopefully will do my very first IVF cycle by december with dr p. Again best of luck to you and lots of baby dust. Also to you confusion and to all the other ladies on the same TTC journey.

Oh thanks confusion! Yes I have your email address. Are you also in the Marina? We should do lunch this week. I had my scan and it showed 2 clear follicles and "maybe" 4 other small ones which may or may not grow. My doctor is very calm with a poker face so doesnt give hope where there isnt any so I guess its a 'normal' result for someone with low ovarian reserve. I am already worried that its not going to work.... ugh. But I need to mind myself and eat well and rest etc. The injections are icky and sting. We are paying extra for me to go in everyday for the injections rather that Dh doing it. Yes at this stage I have a lot of questions confusion so I will email you soon. Ah DB you are another 29th July lady? Its not a typical lion you know... a little more gentle and sensitive than the big fiery augustus folk. My Dh and I argued because he didnt do anything for my birthday and has been quite off this week. Grrr. 21 weeks is so good as every day the growth is critical. So much happening! You wouldnt believe it but last year on our joint birthday that the littlest baby ever was born : http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/sandwich-bag-baby-allegra-turns-one-1.1351284 See you soon Confusion!