Dubai: One baby is born in Dubai every 3.5 hours, according to the Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC).
Expatriate births, nearly triple Emirati, stood at 22,755 babies compared with 7,728 Emirati ones.
This was revealed in connection with the announcement of opening of a new headquarters in Dubai by IVI Fertility, an international centre for fertility treatment, following its successful launch of operations in Abu Dhabi in May last year and over 120 successful pregnancies in less than a year.
“The opening of this office is very significant when viewed against the findings of a report by Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC) that fertility was among the top treatments sought by medical tourists who visited Dubai in 2015, next only to treatment of osteoporosis, dermatology and plastic surgery,” Dr Human Fatemi, medical director, IVI Fertility Middle East, said in a press release.
“We realised that a lot of our patients at Abu Dhabi clinic came from Dubai, Al Ain and other parts of the UAE. This factor, combined with the booming health travel sector in Dubai, prompted us to open a new clinic in Dubai,” said Dr Barbara Lawrenz, specialist – Obstetrics & Gynaecology at IVI Fertility Middle East.
“The Middle East has an estimated 2 to 3 million couples in the age group of 20-40 who are facing difficulties in starting a family. This challenge of infertility is globally recognised as a major health issue. In the last few years, we all have probably read or heard about advancements in fertility treatments,” added Dr Fatemi.
“IVF involves combining the egg and the sperm outside the body in a laboratory. Once an embryo or embryos form, they are then transferred back to the uterus of the woman. If done with the correct approach, this technique delivers successful results. However, there have been cases of severe male sterility, previously failed IVF cycles, failure with Intrauterine Insemination or even limited number of available oocytes that pose challenges. Such cases do not necessarily yield results with the conventional IVF technique,” he added.
