IVF in Bengaluru, Karnataka

IVF, in vitro fertilisation, collects eggs from the ovaries after a course of hormone medicines, fertilises them with sperm in a laboratory, and returns an embryo to the womb a few days later. Spare embryos of good quality can be frozen for a later transfer. The whole sequence, from the first injection to the embryo transfer, usually runs over several weeks, and the IVF explainer on this directory quotes the UK regulator's estimate of four to six weeks for most people. In India it is carried out at clinics registered at Level 2 on the national ART registry.

In Bengaluru, 21 listings on this directory name IVF on their own website. Of them, 13 are registered at Level 2 and 5 at Level 1, and 3 carry no level in the registry extract. That Level 1 share is larger than in some other cities, and it matters: a Level 1 registration covers IUI rather than laboratory treatment, so ask any Level 1 clinic on your list where the egg collection and embryo culture are done and under whose registration.

There is a second thing to keep in mind about Bengaluru. The registry lists 201 clinics here in this directory, and 117 of them are registered at Level 2. Far more clinics are registered for laboratory treatment than name IVF on a page this directory holds, so a Level 2 clinic that is missing from the list below may still offer it. Treat the list as the clinics that say so publicly, and use the city page to see the wider set. 3 of the 21 also hold an ART bank registration, which allows a facility to store and supply eggs, sperm or embryos. This directory has no doctor recorded against these 21 listings yet, so the clinic pages and the clinics themselves are the place to ask who would be treating you.

Before you start, ask each clinic for an itemised, written estimate that includes medicines, monitoring scans, embryo freezing and storage, and a later frozen transfer. Ask whether ICSI is included. Of the listings below, the 13 at Level 2 already hold the registration that covers laboratory treatment; for the rest, open the registry record first.