IVF Success Rates in the UAE: What Dubai and Abu Dhabi Actually Publish

You've probably searched this exact phrase, "IVF success rates UAE", hoping to find a number that will tell you whether this is going to work. A percentage that will let you breathe easier, or at least help you prepare for what's ahead. The truth is, success rates are complicated, and the way they are presented doesn't always help you understand your actual chances.

Numbers matter. But so does context. A clinic quoting "70% success" might be measuring something completely different from a clinic quoting "35%", and the second clinic might actually be the better choice for you.

This guide sets out what the Abu Dhabi and Dubai authorities and individual clinics actually publish (as of October 2026), how those figures compare with international data, and the questions that let you compare like with like.

If you are still exploring your options, our fertility treatments hub provides an overview of all available approaches.

The Short Answer

• There is no public, clinic-by-clinic success rate register in the UAE, unlike the UK (HFEA) or the US (SART and CDC). Every clinic figure you see is self-reported.
• Abu Dhabi publishes an emirate-wide figure: the Department of Health (DoH) reported an IVF success rate of over 51% in 2024 (695 IVF births across 14 licensed centres), up from 42% in 2022. It does not say exactly how "success" is defined.
• Dubai does not publish an emirate-wide figure that we could find. A few clinics publish their own results, mostly as pregnancy rates per frozen embryo transfer using genetically tested embryos, which are among the highest numbers a clinic can report.
• For a realistic benchmark, the largest published dataset is the US SART register: in 2023, the chance of a live birth from one egg collection (counting all resulting transfers) was 53% for women under 35, 40% at 35–37, 26% at 38–40, 13% at 41–42 and 4% over 42.

Why Success Rates Are So Hard to Pin Down

The way IVF success is measured varies enormously. Clinics naturally want to present their best numbers. That isn't necessarily deceptive, but it means you need to understand what you're looking at.

The Many Ways to Measure "Success"

Positive pregnancy test rate: The percentage of transfers followed by a positive blood test about two weeks later. This is the highest number a clinic can quote, and the least meaningful, because many early pregnancies don't continue.

Clinical pregnancy rate: The percentage with a pregnancy sac or heartbeat seen on ultrasound, usually around 6–7 weeks.

Ongoing pregnancy rate: The percentage still pregnant later in the first trimester. Clinics define the cut-off differently.

Live birth rate: The percentage that results in a baby. This is what you actually want to know, and it's the lowest number, so clinics don't always lead with it.

Per transfer vs per cycle started: "Per transfer" counts only cycles that reached embryo transfer. "Per cycle started" or "per egg collection" includes cycles that were cancelled or produced no embryos. The per-transfer number is always higher.

Tested vs untested embryos: A rate for transfers of embryos that passed genetic testing (PGT-A) leaves out every embryo that was ruled out, and every patient who had no normal embryo to transfer. It is not comparable with a rate for all patients.

Single transfer vs cumulative: A cumulative rate adds up the chances over several transfers or cycles, so it is higher again.

The same clinic could legitimately quote numbers ranging from about 25% to over 70% depending on which measure it chooses.

What Abu Dhabi Publishes

Abu Dhabi has the most official data in the UAE.

• Emirate-wide success rate: In February 2025, the DoH reported that Abu Dhabi had achieved an IVF success rate of over 51% in 2024, with 695 births through IVF. In March 2024 it reported a 42% success rate for 2022, with more than 4,800 couples treated. Neither announcement defines the measure (for example, per transfer or per cycle, pregnancy or live birth), so treat these as headline figures rather than numbers you can compare with a clinic's.
• Number of licensed centres: 14 licensed facilities provide assisted reproduction in Abu Dhabi, according to the DoH in February 2025 (up from 12 reported in March 2024).
• Quality reporting: Under the DoH's Jawda quality programme, every licensed fertility centre must submit outcome indicators every quarter, including clinical pregnancy and live birth rates for fresh and frozen transfers. We could not find these results published clinic by clinic, but it is reasonable to ask a clinic what it reports to the DoH.

Clinic-published figures in Abu Dhabi:

• ART Fertility Clinics publishes yearly results for its UAE clinics (see the Dubai section below for the figures).
• Fakih IVF has a success-rates page, but in October 2026 it gave no percentages.
• Umniya Fertility: we found no published success rates on its website.

If you are searching for the "best IVF success rate in Abu Dhabi", the honest answer is that no public data allows a fair ranking. Use the questions further down this page instead.

What Dubai Publishes

Dubai has no equivalent emirate-wide figure that we could find, so clinic-level numbers are all there is.

• Dubai Fertility Center (Dubai Health, government): In 2020, the then Dubai Health Authority reported a pregnancy success rate of 66% for 2019 and 67% for the first quarter of 2020 (Gulf News, August 2020). Its current Dubai Health page publishes no figure.
• ART Fertility Clinics (Dubai and Abu Dhabi): publishes results for frozen embryo transfers of PGT-A-tested embryos. For 2025 it reports a 64% pregnancy rate (positive blood test) and a 51% ongoing pregnancy rate (pregnancy with a heartbeat); for 2024, 66% and 55%. It does not publish live birth rates or results by age.
• Orchid Fertility: publishes 2024 results by age group. Overall, it reports a 70.6% pregnancy rate per frozen embryo transfer and a 60.6% clinical pregnancy rate (heartbeat at six weeks). It notes that 89% of its transfers used PGT-A-tested embryos and 88% were single-embryo transfers. It does not publish live birth rates.
• Fakih IVF: if you are looking for "Fakih IVF success rates official", its official success-rates page currently gives no figures. Ask the clinic directly for live birth rates for your age group.

None of these figures are independently audited, and none are live birth rates. Both ART's and Orchid's figures are for transfers of genetically tested embryos, so they describe patients who already had a chromosomally normal embryo, not everyone who started treatment.

How to Compare Success Rates Honestly

When a clinic gives you a number, check these six things:

1. What is being counted? Positive test, heartbeat, ongoing pregnancy or live birth.
2. What is the denominator? Per transfer, per egg collection, or per patient who started.
3. Which transfers? Fresh or frozen, and with or without PGT-A testing.
4. Which ages? An overall rate means little unless you know the age mix. Ask for your age group.
5. Which period, and how many cycles? A percentage based on a few dozen transfers can swing a lot from year to year.
6. Is it audited or reported to a regulator? In Abu Dhabi, ask what the clinic reports to the DoH.

ICSI does not usually change these comparisons much: it is a way of fertilising eggs (used particularly for male-factor infertility), and clinics rarely report ICSI success separately. If you are searching for ICSI success rates in the UAE, ask the same questions about the clinic's IVF/ICSI results for your age.

International Benchmarks by Age

Because there is no UAE register, the most reliable comparison points are national registers that publish verified data.

US (SART), 2023: chance of a live birth from one egg collection, own eggs

UK (HFEA), 2023: fresh IVF with own eggs

• Pregnancy rate per embryo transferred: 41% at 18–34, 34% at 35–37, 25% at 38–39 and 9% at 43–44.
• Birth rate per embryo transferred: 25% overall, from 35% at 18–34 to 5% at 43–44 (preliminary figures).
• Frozen embryo transfers: 33% birth rate per embryo transferred overall (preliminary).

These are per-cycle or per-embryo live birth figures across a whole country, so they will always look lower than a single clinic's pregnancy rate per transfer of a tested embryo. That does not mean UAE clinics are better or worse; the numbers simply measure different things.

Your Individual Success Factors

Population statistics give you a starting point, but your chances depend on your specific situation.

Age and Egg Quality

Age is the single most important factor in IVF success, specifically the age of the eggs. The main reason is that the proportion of embryos with the wrong number of chromosomes rises with age.

In one large study of more than 15,000 tested blastocysts, the rate of chromosomal abnormality was lowest between ages 26 and 30 and rose steadily after that. The chance that a woman had no chromosomally normal blastocyst at all in a cycle was 2–6% between ages 26 and 37, 33% at 42 and 53% at 44 (Franasiak and colleagues, 2014).

If you use donor eggs from a younger woman, success rates largely reflect the donor's age rather than yours. Note that donor eggs are not permitted for treatment in the UAE; see our guide to the UAE's fertility law.

Your Specific Diagnosis

What's causing your fertility challenges affects IVF success differently:

Tubal factor infertility (blocked tubes): IVF bypasses the tubes, so outcomes are often good if egg and sperm quality are unaffected.

Male factor infertility: ICSI means many men with low sperm counts or poor motility can still become fathers, provided sperm can be retrieved.

Endometriosis: Mild endometriosis may have little effect on IVF; severe disease can affect egg numbers and implantation.

PCOS: Women with PCOS often respond strongly to stimulation, which needs careful monitoring to avoid ovarian hyperstimulation.

Diminished ovarian reserve: Fewer eggs means fewer embryos to choose from, so more than one egg collection may be needed.

Unexplained infertility: IVF can bypass problems that tests don't detect, and outcomes are often reasonable.

Ovarian Response to Stimulation

How many eggs you produce matters, but not in a simple "more is better" way. Too few eggs means fewer embryos; a very high response raises the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Your clinic will estimate your likely response from your age, AMH level, antral follicle count and any previous cycles.

Embryo Quality and Genetic Testing

Embryologists grade embryos by how they develop and look, and higher-grade blastocysts generally have better implantation potential.

Transferring an embryo that tested chromosomally normal (PGT-A) removes much, but not all, of the effect of age. In a study of 8,175 single transfers of tested embryos, the live birth rate per transfer was 62.5% under 35, 58.3% at 35–37, 56.0% at 38–40, 52.2% at 41–42 and 52.9% over 42 (Reig and colleagues, 2020). The catch is that older women are less likely to have a normal embryo to transfer in the first place, which is why per-transfer rates for tested embryos look so much higher than per-cycle rates. Our guide to genetic testing (PGT) explains the pros and cons.

Previous Cycle History

If you've done IVF before, your history is a useful guide. A good response with a negative outcome may point to changes in embryo selection or transfer timing. Repeated failure with good-quality embryos may suggest implantation issues that need investigation.

Uterine Environment

A healthy uterine lining is essential for implantation. Fibroids, polyps, adenomyosis or a thin lining can affect success. Most of these can be identified with ultrasound and hysteroscopy, and many can be treated.

Questions to Ask Your Clinic

About Their Statistics

• "What is your live birth rate per embryo transfer for patients my age, for fresh and frozen transfers?"
  This is the most useful single number. If they only quote pregnancy rates, ask why.
• "How do you define success in these statistics, and over what period?"
  Make sure you understand exactly what is being measured and when.
• "Does this include patients whose embryos weren't tested, or whose cycles were cancelled?"
  Rates for tested-embryo transfers only describe patients who reached that stage.
• "What do you report to the regulator?"
  In Abu Dhabi, licensed centres report quarterly outcome indicators to the DoH.

About Your Situation

• "Based on my situation, what would you estimate my chances to be?"
  A good doctor will give you a personalised estimate, not just quote clinic averages.
• "How many egg collections or transfers do you think I might need?"
  Knowing this upfront helps with emotional and financial planning. See our IVF cost breakdown.
• "If this cycle doesn't work, what would you do differently next time?"
  This tells you whether they have a thoughtful approach to learning from each attempt.

Understanding Cumulative Success Rates

One of the most hopeful statistics in fertility treatment is the cumulative success rate: your chance of success across several attempts, not just one.

You can see this in the SART table above. For women under 35, the chance of a live birth from the first transfer after one egg collection was 39.4%, but rose to 53.2% once all the frozen embryos from that same egg collection had been used. Some of IVF is chance: a good embryo might not implant one month and another might the next.

Cumulative rates have limits. They assume each attempt has similar odds, which isn't always true. Someone with very low reserve may not have enough embryos for several transfers. And financial and emotional resources are not infinite.

The practical takeaway: one failed transfer does not mean IVF "doesn't work" for you. Equally, more attempts won't necessarily succeed if underlying issues haven't been addressed.

Fresh vs Frozen Transfers

Modern freezing (vitrification) means frozen embryo transfers now do at least as well as fresh ones on average. In the UK in 2023, the birth rate per embryo transferred was 33% for frozen transfers and 25% for fresh (preliminary HFEA figures). Freezing also means one egg collection can lead to several transfers, which lowers the cost of each further attempt.

UAE-Specific Considerations

Transparency

Without public clinic-level reporting, comparing UAE clinics objectively is harder than in countries with registers. That puts more responsibility on you to ask the right questions. Clinics that answer clearly, with live birth rates by age and an honest explanation of their numbers, are showing you something useful about how they work.

Choosing Between Emirates

Your choice between Dubai and Abu Dhabi will usually depend more on practical things than on headline success rates: where you live, whether you hold Thiqa or qualify for Dubai's Al Amal initiative, and which clinics treat your particular diagnosis. Our insurance guide and the Dubai and Abu Dhabi clinic directories can help.

Beyond the Numbers: What Success Really Means

Statistics help you make informed decisions, but they can also become consuming. Every percentage point can feel like it has meaning, but you're not a statistic. For you, any given cycle will either work or it won't. There's no such thing as being "35% pregnant."

What You Can Control

• Choosing a clinic you trust, with transparent communication
• Following your protocol carefully
• Getting support for the stress (not because stress "causes" failure, but because this is hard and you deserve support)
• Making evidence-based lifestyle choices (healthy weight, no smoking, moderate exercise)
• Asking questions until you understand what's happening

What You Can't Control

• Whether a particular embryo implants
• Random chromosomal errors in eggs and sperm
• How your body responds in any given cycle
• The unexplained factors that make one month different from another

The clinic with the best-looking statistics isn't necessarily the right choice for you. Trust, communication and a personalised approach might matter more than a few percentage points. For guidance on what to look for, see our guide on choosing the right clinic.

Key Takeaways

• There is no public UAE register of clinic success rates, so every clinic figure is self-reported. Always ask what metric is being quoted.
• Abu Dhabi reported an emirate-wide IVF success rate of over 51% in 2024, but did not define the measure. Dubai publishes no emirate-wide figure.
• Clinic figures in the UAE are mostly pregnancy rates per frozen transfer of tested embryos, which are not comparable with live birth rates per cycle.
• Age matters most: in US data, the chance of a live birth from one egg collection falls from 53% under 35 to 4% over 42.
• Ask for live birth rates for your age group, and what the clinic reports to its regulator.

Sources

• DoH Abu Dhabi: DoH reports 695 childbirths via IVF in 2024 (2 February 2025) (checked October 2026)
• DoH Abu Dhabi: The Department of Health paves the way for exceptional maternity services (25 March 2024) (checked October 2026)
• DoH Abu Dhabi: Assisted Reproductive Technology Treatment Service (ART) Jawda Guidance, version 7 (PDF) (checked October 2026)
• Gulf News: Dubai Fertility Centre achieves 67 per cent pregnancy success rate (26 August 2020) (checked October 2026)
• Dubai Health: Fertility Center (checked October 2026)
• ART Fertility Clinics: Success rates (checked October 2026)
• Orchid Fertility: Success rates (checked October 2026)
• Fakih IVF: Success rates (checked October 2026)
• SART: National summary report, 2023 (checked October 2026)
• HFEA: Fertility treatment 2023: trends and figures (June 2025) (checked October 2026)
• Franasiak JM et al. The nature of aneuploidy with increasing age of the female partner. Fertility and Sterility, 2014;101(3):656–663 (checked October 2026)
• Reig A et al. The impact of age beyond ploidy: outcome data from 8175 euploid single embryo transfers. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, 2020;37(3):595–602 (checked October 2026)

This content is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Figures are as published by the sources above and checked in October 2026; clinic figures are self-reported and not independently verified. Always discuss your specific situation with a qualified fertility specialist.