Timeline
Trip 1 – Meeting with doctor and registration (min. 1 day)
Trip 2 – Egg extraction (min. 3 days)
Trip 3 – Embryo Transfer (min. 5-6 days)
I’ve heard many great and successful stories of couples doing IVF in Thailand and for us, the main reasons for doing IVF#2 in BKK was because:
(1) Their criteria for couples wanting to do PGD was less strict than in HK. Their age requirement was 35 (I was 34, just turning 35 so it worked out). At the HK Sanatorium, I needed to be 38 years old, have miscarried multiple times and had several failed IVF attempts under our belt before they would even consider assessing my case. Even then, they would need two independent doctors to assess our case to evaluate whether or not we were eligible for doing PGD. Now just looking at the basic criteria gets me all riled up. What if a couple was in their 20’s and had been trying for 6-7 years? Yes, they’re young, but clearly they should be eligible for PGD if they’ve already exhausted all the other options. In my opinion, it’s very cruel to dangle this carrot and make couples wait.
(2) BKK is significantly more advanced and experienced in conducting PGD – they do this day in and day out in Thailand, whereas HK is still relatively new to it. At the HK Sanatorium where we did IVF #1, they had only done PGD a dozen of times. This indicates to me that they are still “learning” how to do it and I really do not want to be investing crap loads of money, time and my physical and emotional well being in “amateurs” in this context. Also, the embryologists at the two centres that we’re considering (one of the most important people in the IVF process, if not the most important), are top notch.
(3) IVF in BKK is half the price of HK – it works out cheaper even after you take into account the travelling and accommodation costs. Check here for my IVF cost comparisons. Plus, you can stay in some really great hotels in central BKK for between HK$500-1,000 a night. I have provided some recommendations here.
Plus, you get destination weddings so why not do a “Destination IVF” and make a holiday out of it whilst you’re there? 🙂
* Note: According to Thai law, all couples must provide a copy of their marriage certificate before doing IVF in Thailand*
Disclaimer:
*This blog contains some graphic language. Read at your own risk 🙂
*Contents of this blog are based on my personal opinion and own experiences and in no way represents professional medical advice. Please exercise your own judgement when making decisions.
Love, Hope, Jabs and Probes Copyright 2017
Love, Hope, Jabs and Probes 
Hi Roz,
Thank you for writing this blog, reading it has given me hope! I have been TTC for 3 years.
I am interested in going Thailand for IVF, do you think it is possible to do the 1st and 2nd trip in one week?
Thanks
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Hi JJ,
Where will you be doing your stimulations? If you’re planning on doing this in your home country before going to Thailand, there is a chance you can do 1 and 2 in the same week but it’s best for you to double check this with the centre. If you’re planning to also do the stims stage in Thailand then you can register then. I would try to send all paperwork ahead of time though. That’s what we did so when we went for our first consultation, they had already opened a case file for us with copies of everything that we had sent prior to our trip and all we had to do was sign a few documents. This reduced the registration time. Hope this helps!
Good luck and baby dust!
R
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