IVF in Chennai, or in your own city? How to decide.

Stay if care near home is good and clear. Travel if the plan, or a second opinion, is worth the trips.

Good IVF is done in many cities, and a clinic in your own city has one real advantage: you are close when you need it. We do not rank clinics, in Coimbatore, Delhi or anywhere else, and we will not run your city down. Travelling makes sense when you want a second view on your file, when your local plan has not been explained to you, or when you have decided you want to be treated here and the stay is workable. If you are unsure, a video consultation lets you find out without a trip.

Six things: visits, scans near home, the stay, time off work, follow-up, and language.

First, how many visits the plan needs, and which of them cannot be done anywhere else. Second, whether scans and blood tests can be done near home, with reports sent to the clinic. Third, how long you would stay, and where. Fourth, how much time off work you and your partner can take. Fifth, who looks after you after the transfer and if something goes wrong. Sixth, whether you can follow the conversation easily. Our team speaks English, Tamil and Hindi.

At least one stay for stimulation and egg collection, and usually a shorter second visit for a frozen transfer.

Our own guide for patients who travel to us is this: typically around two to three weeks for a stimulation and egg collection cycle, and a frozen transfer needs a shorter second visit. Exact dates come with the plan. The injections run for about 8 to 12 days, with scans every couple of days as the eggs grow. Egg collection takes about 20 minutes under light anaesthesia, and you go home the same day. Most of our embryo transfers are frozen and done in a later cycle, which is why there is a second visit. Some scans may be possible nearer home, and we plan the dates with you.

Most of the first round of tests can be done near home, and a video consultation can come before any trip.

Recent blood tests, scans and a semen analysis from a recognised lab are generally accepted, so send them before the consultation. We read them before the call and send you a list of the tests we still need. Then you get a plan in writing, with dates, before you book a flight or a train. Both partners are tested before any plan is made. If you live in or near Chennai, the first visit can also be at Thiruporur or Neelankarai.

Not one number: the stimulation medicines, the number of cycles, ICSI, freezing, frozen transfers, and the cost of being away.

A price per cycle means little until you know what it leaves out. The medicines are dosed to you, so they vary. Some couples need more than one cycle. ICSI is charged only when it is needed. Embryo freezing and storage each year add to the plan, and so does each frozen transfer. Then there is travel, a place to stay, and time off work. We cannot compare other cities' prices fairly, because clinics price different things. Ask each clinic to price the same itemised list, and ask for the full price in writing. The NHS notes that each private clinic sets its own prices.

Ask about it before you book, and know where you would go in the first hour.

Most people recover well after egg collection and transfer. Rarely, there is severe tummy pain, swelling, breathlessness or heavy bleeding with dizziness. That needs the nearest emergency department first, then a call to your clinic. So find out beforehand who answers your calls, what the hours are, and whether a local doctor will see you. Our hours are Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm. ESHRE's ethics task force discusses the doctor's duty to give information and counselling to patients who travel for care, and its recommendations focus on the safety and quality of treatment wherever it is provided.

We have rooms on site for patients travelling from outside Chennai, with meals from the hospital kitchen.

Egg collection, embryo transfer and all the lab work happen at Neelankarai, where the embryology lab is on site. The hospital is about 18 km from Chennai International Airport (MAA). If you would rather have your own space, we can help find a place nearby. Your plan and stay are agreed in writing before you travel.