Dubai: Couples who cannot have children due to various reasons have hope as they can take advantage of fertility treatment in the UAE. The treatment is available to anyone from any part of the world, including those who come here on a visit visa.

However, Sharia law here has put some restrictions as the UAE is a Muslim country. Fertility treatment is not allowed for unmarried couples. The fertility treatment is considered to be cheaper here than in any other part of the world, and in most cases has proved to be a success.

Couples living elsewhere can easily apply for a visa to the UAE for medical treatment and should provide legal and medical documents.

One of the fertility treatment centres in the UAE is The Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre.
 

It is a joint project between the Department of Health and Medical Services and the London Fertility Centre. The staff speak various languages and the cases are dealt with in high confidentiality. T

here are also many other private fertility and gynaecology centres in the country which provide various services, including fertility treatment for men and women and freezing of sperm, embryo, eggs and tissue.

The centre has been responsible for more than 2,300 babies born to couples in the UAE and neighbouring countries. It is a serious social issue here if a woman is unable to become pregnant. Sometimes it ends in divorce or the husband taking another wife, a doctor says.

Many couples come here not because of infertility problems but because they would like a boy or a girl, a child of a particular gender to balance the family.

Some have biological defects that affect fertility, such as a septated uterus. The centre has an average success rate of 43 per cent. Last year, 48 per cent of couples undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) became pregnant and 41 per cent succeeded with Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).

The centre can perform about four procedures daily. After the procedure, the egg and sperm are kept in the incubator for about 20 hours. If the cells divide after that, then doctors know fertilisation has occurred.

Once an embryo has developed, embryologists do a biopsy on it and take it to the genetics lab to test for chromosomal abnormalities. Any unhealthy embryo is discarded. Not more than three embryos are implanted into a woman.

Last year 25 per cent of implantations resulted in twins. Another fertility treatment services offered to couples is by Tawam government hospital in Al Ain. It is a major referral centre for critical cases from the UAE and the region.

It offers the treatment free for Emiratis. It has a high success rate.