Your first video consultation with an Indian IVF clinic is where you find out whether the clinic can actually plan your treatment remotely — and whether you trust it enough to fly in. To get real value from it, send your reports at least two or three working days beforehand, come with a written list of questions grouped by topic, and end the call knowing exactly what happens next and when. This guide gives you the preparation checklist, more than 25 questions, and what a good answer sounds like.
If you live in India and are seeing a doctor in person, our general guide on preparing for a first fertility consultation covers the basics. This one is about doing it across borders and time zones.
Key points
- Send your reports and a one-page summary at least two to three working days before the call, and confirm the doctor has reviewed them.
- Confirm the call time in both time zones; India does not observe daylight saving time.
- Prepare questions in five groups: your history and plan, realistic outcomes, logistics, costs and aftercare.
- Listen for specific, reasoned answers rather than reassurance or guarantees.
- Follow up in writing within a day, summarising the plan and requesting an itemised quote and provisional calendar.
Before the call: the preparation checklist
One week before
- Confirm who the call is with — the treating doctor, an associate doctor or a counsellor. The first two can discuss a medical plan; a counsellor usually cannot.
- Confirm the time in writing in both time zones (for example, “4:30 pm IST / 12:00 pm Dubai”). Indian Standard Time does not change for daylight saving, so a call booked for the same IST time can land an hour differently for you across the year if you live in Europe or North America.
- Ask whether the consultation is charged, how to pay, and whether the fee is adjusted against treatment.
- Ask which platform they use, and test it on the device you will use.
Three to five days before
- Send your records as a small set of clearly named PDFs, with a one-page summary on top. Our guide to sending medical records to an Indian clinic explains what to include and how to send it securely.
- Ask the coordinator to confirm the doctor has received and will review them before the call.
- Write your questions down, grouped as below, with your top five marked.
On the day
- Use a laptop if you can, in a quiet room, with headphones and a stable connection.
- Have your reports open so you can find a value quickly.
- If you have a partner, both join — ideally from the same place so you can hear each other.
- Have someone take notes, or ask at the start whether the clinic minds you recording audio for your own use.
What documents to share beforehand
You don't need everything, but the more of this the doctor sees in advance, the more specific the plan:
- A one-page summary: both ages, how long you have been trying, previous pregnancies, previous treatments, known conditions, current medications and allergies.
- Recent hormone tests: AMH, day 2–3 FSH, LH and oestradiol, TSH and prolactin, with dates.
- Pelvic ultrasound report, ideally including an antral follicle count.
- Tubal assessment (HSG or similar) if you have had one.
- Partner's semen analysis, if applicable.
- Previous IVF or IUI records — protocols, medication doses, egg numbers, embryo reports, transfer outcomes. These are particularly valuable if you are planning a further attempt.
- Passport copies (or ask whether they need them yet) and, for couples, whether you are married — this affects eligibility under the ART Act.
If you haven't done baseline tests yet, the call can still be useful — the clinic can tell you which tests to do locally. See tests to do at home before IVF in India.
Questions to ask: your history and the plan
- Looking at my reports, what do you think is the main reason we haven't conceived?
- Is IVF the right next step for us, or should we consider IUI or other treatment first?
- Which protocol would you use for me, and why that one?
- What medication doses are you likely to start with?
- Do you recommend ICSI for us, or is conventional IVF an option?
- Would you plan a fresh transfer, or freeze all embryos and transfer later?
- Are there any tests I should repeat or add before starting?
- Is anything in my history — weight, thyroid, a fibroid, a previous surgery — a reason to delay?
Questions to ask: realistic outcomes
- Based on my age and reports, what is a realistic range for eggs retrieved?
- What are my realistic chances per transfer, and how do you count them?
- How many cycles should we be prepared for?
- Do you recommend PGT-A for me specifically, and what are the downsides?
- What would make you cancel a cycle, and what happens financially if you do?
For context on age and odds, see IVF success rates by age in India.
Questions to ask: logistics from abroad
- How many days do I need to be in India, and when is the earliest I should arrive?
- Can I do baseline scans and blood tests at home and send them to you?
- Can I start stimulation at home with a local doctor monitoring, and what would you need from them?
- Who will be my coordinator, and how do I reach them during the cycle?
- What is the best way to share scan results with you while I'm still abroad?
- Will you issue the letter I need for the e-Medical visa, and the attendant visa for my partner?
- Does my partner need to be in India, and on which days?
- How many days after retrieval or transfer do you suggest before I fly home?
Questions to ask: cost and payment
- Can you send an itemised quote in rupees, listing what is and isn't included?
- Is medication included, or billed separately? Roughly how much for my likely doses?
- What would a frozen embryo transfer on a second trip cost?
- How much is embryo storage per year, and how do I renew it from abroad?
- How and when do I pay — and can I pay from an overseas account?
- What is refundable if the cycle is cancelled?
Questions to ask: aftercare and records
- Who will interpret my pregnancy test when I'm back home, and how fast?
- What should my local doctor do if I have a problem after flying back?
- Will I get a written summary of this call, and full records of my cycle when it's over?
- If I want to move my embryos to another clinic later, what is the process?
What a good answer sounds like
You are not grading the medicine. You are listening for the shape of the answers:
| Question | A reassuring answer | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| What protocol? | Names one, links it to your reports, mentions an alternative | “We'll decide when you come” with no reasoning |
| What are my chances? | A range, tied to your age, with how it is counted | A single high number, or “don't worry, it will work” |
| Do I need PGT-A? | Explains when it helps and when it doesn't, for your case | “Everyone does it” |
| What does it cost? | Offers an itemised written quote | A round package figure, pressure to pay a deposit now |
| Can I start at home? | “Possibly — here is what your local doctor would need to do” | “Yes, no problem” with no plan for monitoring |
| Who is my contact? | A named person with a direct line and working hours | “Just message the main number” |
A good doctor will also ask you questions — about your cycle, your partner, your job, how much time you can spend in India. If the doctor asks very little about you, the plan is likely to be generic.
After the call: follow-up in writing
Within a day, send the coordinator a short email that:
- Summarises what you understood the plan to be (protocol, likely dates, tests to repeat).
- Lists the questions that weren't covered.
- Asks for the itemised quote and a provisional day-by-day calendar.
- Asks what they need from you next, and by when.
If the clinic corrects your summary, it is better to resolve the difference now than on arrival. A delay of a week or more in replying is also worth noting when you compare clinics. Our guide to communicating across time zones covers setting up a reliable channel for the cycle itself.
Comparing two or three consultations
If you consult more than one clinic, write your notes in the same format each time, straight after the call. Then compare them against the scoring table in our guide to choosing an IVF clinic from abroad. It is normal for two good clinics to recommend slightly different plans. What matters is whether each can explain why. If the recommendations are very different, a structured second opinion can help you decide.
Language and interpreters
Consultations at Indian IVF clinics are usually conducted in English, and often also in Hindi or the regional language of the clinic's city. If you are more comfortable in another language, raise it when booking:
- Ask whether a doctor or coordinator speaks your language, or whether the clinic can arrange an interpreter.
- If you bring your own interpreter, such as a family member, brief them on the medical terms beforehand.
- Ask for the written summary in English, and translate it afterwards if needed, so the clinical record is accurate.
For patients from the Gulf, our guide for Arabic-speaking patients covers this in more detail.
An illustrative example: preparing from Toronto
The following is an illustrative scenario, not a real patient's experience. A couple living in Toronto, aged 36 and 39, have tried to conceive for two years and have had one unsuccessful IUI cycle at home.
- Booking: Toronto is 9.5 or 10.5 hours behind India depending on the time of year, so they request an 8:30 pm IST slot, which falls in their morning.
- Records: four days beforehand they send a one-page summary, recent AMH and day 3 hormone results, an ultrasound report with antral follicle count, a semen analysis, and the IUI cycle notes.
- During the call: they ask their top five questions first — protocol, likely number of eggs, whether the husband must be present for retrieval, the total expected cost, and how the pregnancy test will be handled in Canada.
- Afterwards: they email a summary the same evening and receive an itemised quote and a provisional calendar two days later.
By preparing in this way, they can compare two clinics on the same terms within a fortnight.
What to have in writing after the consultation
| Document | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Consultation summary | Records the provisional diagnosis, plan and reasoning |
| List of tests to do or repeat | Lets you arrange testing at home within the clinic's validity windows |
| Itemised quote in rupees | Allows like-for-like comparison and avoids disputes later |
| Provisional calendar | Earliest and latest likely dates for arrival, retrieval, transfer and departure |
| Coordinator's name and contact details | Your single point of contact before and during the cycle |
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Sending records on the morning of the call. The doctor may not have time to read them, and the consultation becomes general.
- Joining from a phone in a noisy place. You may miss details and find it difficult to look up your own results.
- Accepting a plan without asking why. Understanding the reasoning helps you compare clinics and prepares you for changes during treatment.
- Not discussing cost. Some patients feel uncomfortable raising it. It is a normal and expected part of the consultation.
- Leaving without a next step. End the call by confirming what you will receive, from whom, and by when.
Consultation fees and deposits
Some clinics offer the first video consultation free of charge; others charge a fee, which may be adjusted against treatment if you proceed. Ask before booking, and ask for a receipt. Be cautious about any request for a treatment deposit before or during the first consultation. A reasonable clinic will give you time to review its plan and quote, compare them with others and make arrangements before asking for payment towards treatment. See paying an Indian IVF clinic from abroad for how payments usually work.
Next steps
Find clinics offering video consultations on the international patients page — those with the International-ready badge have told us they offer one. Before your call, get your baseline tests done if you can, and once dates firm up, read timing your IVF trip to India.