Hi everyone,
Although old, I thought that I would add to this post since I have recent experience of doing IVF in Doha at Doha Clinic. Whilst my IVF treatment with the clinic was unsuccessful, it is important to note that I am not writing this as an emotional and immediate knee-jerk reaction to this failed treatment. Six months have since passed, giving my husband and I time to reflect on the experience and to compare it against a more recent experience at a clinic in Europe.
The costs of undertaking this is around QR18,500 for the procedure. This does not include all the other costs- injections that can cost up to QR5,000 and some blood tests can cost around QR1,500. Luckily, I was covered under my insurance for some of the blood tests and my visits.
Overall I would NOT recommend it. This is because of the following:
1. The inability of the clinic to use an appointment system meant that I spent anything from three to eight hours waiting for a consultation. As someone that works this was difficult to manage, and the needless waiting around made an emotional time worst.
2. Patient communication was poor, unless you fished for information, it was all very vague. I was not told the quality of my eggs or that of the embryos. Explanations were only provided when questions were asked or test results were available. I had done all my research prior to seeing the doctor and always went prepared with my questions otherwise I would not have gotten much information.
3. Phones calls were not returned when I was told they would get in touch with me. I constantly had to chase the clinic to tell me when to come back for the embryo transfers as they had not contacted me when they said they would.
4. There was a lack of support during the whole process. After the embryo transfer, I was told to do a pregnancy test after two weeks. If it was positive, I was to go back to the clinic. I was not what I should do if the test was negative, or what I should or should not be doing during this two week period.
5. For nearly two weeks I had to go the clinic for the nurse to inject the hormones as she did not feel comfortable for me to do it myself. This meant having to wait at least half an hour to an hour before she would see me. Further, this is not how things are done in Europe or the UAE where you are taught how to do this yourself, since it is very straightforward.
6. It took them four months to start the IVF cycle, despite having completed all of the required tests in November. I felt I was wasting my time every month I went in as I could have started in November last year, instead we started in February this year. I know this not only from my research but from consulting my fertility doctor in Dubai.
7. The doctor I had been seeing at the clinic was not the one who carried out my final ultra sound, the egg retrieval or the embryo transfer. I found this odd because no one told me this would happen.
Following on from our unsuccessful attempt we visited a clinic in Europe, and it was obvious that some tests had not been carried out for both my husband and I. In Europe;
• They undertook more detailed tests that highlighted that I had hypothyroidism which increases the risk of miscarriages. The doctor in Europe refused to continue an IVF treatment until this issue was resolved, as she felt that it increased the risk of failure substantially. The doctor in Doha had suspected that I may have a thyroid problem but a thorough set of tests was not undertaken.
• We received an immediate and extremely thorough explanation of their procedures, clinical monitoring, tests and treatments.
• They undertook pre-treatment checks to ensure that embryo transfer was feasible.
• The level of pre-treatment monitoring was higher and more detailed.
The overall level of professionalism, quality of treatment and engagement in this European clinic was substantially higher, for a potential treatment that had a similar cost to that at Doha Clinic.
If you live in Doha and are considering IVF treatment in Qatar, I would recommend visiting Hamad Women’s Hospital, if only because I do not feel able to recommend Doha Clinic. Failing that it would be worth considering clinics in the UAE or in your home country, where the standard of care and level of professionalism are higher.
However these are my opinions only and I respect that others may have had both positive experiences and successful IVF treatments with Doha Clinic. I feel it important to write this as the internet-based information on IVF often revolves around positive outcomes, so this is an attempt to balance this and to share my experiences so that others might make a more informed decision when looking at IVF treatment in Doha since it is a very emotional time and an expensive treatment. I fully appreciate that a successful IVF experience with Doha Clinic would have resulted in me having a different opinion, as I would have likely overlooked the negative experiences that I have just described. However, our consultation in Europe and subsequent trips to specialists in the UAE made us look back at this experience in a less-than-positive light, hence why I am now posting this comment.
SKS
Thank you for your opinion! I was just trying to find out any information about IVF in Doha, but I am sure its not worth to go through it here. We already had two failed IVF attemps in Dubai at Fakih,these were partial treatments because of the lack of time. I can say only good things about the clinic there, even though the second time three days after the embryo transfer I ended up in hospital with hyperstimulated ovaries.
The nurse kept calling me to Qatar very often before egg retrieval as after the embryo transfer, she really took very good care of me. And in the clinic there is no waiting like everywhere in Qatar. The only thing is that there is freezing cold :) maybe it has has some reason..
During the operation you are sleeping, so no pain. All the doctors and nurses are extremely nice. So I recommend that clinic, its my opinion.
Of course there are many people and it can seem as you are in a bank, but its a huge business everywhere, its normal.
We are planing to go for a third time soon and I think I would try it in Fakih again. I would do all the treatment there if I only would have time, but I have doctor here who works together with the clinic in Dubai, so he even send all the US reports directly there. Just waitng that I 'll be mentally prepared to go through all of this again, I am really scared of an other failure.
