Navigating IVF in Lebanon

For couples struggling to conceive, in vitro fertilization can offer another chance at pregnancy. In Lebanon, IVF sits at the intersection of medicine, family expectations, religion and an increasingly difficult economic reality. Despite the growing visibility of fertility treatments, misconceptions surrounding infertility remain widespread. Dr. Najib Dagher, a reproductive medicine, IVF and fertility specialist, says that while attitudes are changing, patients still face significant emotional and financial challenges. IVF, or in vitro fertilization, involves fertilizing an egg outside the body. The ovaries are stimulated with hormonal injections for around eight to 12 days to develop several follicles, which are monitored through ultrasounds before the eggs are retrieved under sedation.

In the laboratory, mature eggs are fertilized using sperm from the woman's partner. The resulting embryos develop for several days before suitable embryos are transferred into the uterus or frozen for later use. IVF, however, is not necessarily the first treatment for infertility. Dagher recommends it for conditions including blocked or damaged fallopian tubes, significant male-factor infertility, certain cases of endometriosis, genetic indications, repeated miscarriages or when less invasive treatments have failed. For women under 38 with open tubes and no significant sperm problems, doctors may first try ovarian stimulation with intrauterine insemination, or IUI.

IVF cannot stop the biological clock

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding IVF is that it can compensate entirely for age. “IVF is very powerful, but it cannot completely reverse the biological effect of age on the eggs,” Dagher said. Women are born with a finite supply of eggs, which decline in quantity and quality over time. According to Dagher, natural fertility is highest before 30, when the chance of pregnancy is around 25 percent per cycle. By age 37, he puts that figure at approximately 12 percent, while after 40 it falls below 5 percent. Another misconception is that IVF automatically means pregnancy. Success depends on age, ovarian reserve, sperm quality, embryo development and uterine conditions. Some couples become pregnant after after their first IVF cycle, while others undergo multiple cycles. “IVF improves the probability of pregnancy; it doesn’t guarantee it,” Dagher said.

The emotional side of treatment

Physically, modern IVF is generally safe, but patients still undergo daily injections, repeated ultrasounds and blood tests, followed by egg retrieval under sedation or anesthesia. For many, the psychological strain can be harder. Patients can move repeatedly between optimism and disappointment within a single treatment cycle. Dagher describes the 10 to 14 days after embryo transfer, when patients wait for a pregnancy result, as one of the most emotionally difficult periods. “This period of waiting and hoping and trying to feel some signs of success exhausts and drains the woman and her husband, especially the woman,” he said.

When infertility becomes a social issue

In Lebanon, infertility rarely exists entirely within the doctor's office. Family structures, social expectations and religion can influence how couples experience it. “There’s a considerable pressure surrounding childbearing, and historically infertility has often been attributed disproportionately to women,” Dagher said. In some communities, women continue to shoulder much of the blame when a couple cannot conceive, despite Dagher estimating that approximately 40 percent of infertility cases are female-factor, 40 percent male-factor and 20 percent involve both partners. This can create secrecy and shame and sometimes delay men from seeking evaluation.

Yet Lebanese society is not broadly opposed to fertility treatment. Dagher cited research in which 92.3 percent of respondents considered fertility treatment socially acceptable, while 82.8 percent considered IVF socially acceptable. He also sees signs of a generational shift. Greater access to doctors, social media and fertility information has helped frame infertility as a medical issue rather than a personal failure. In a 2026 study cited by Dagher, 83.5 percent of women experiencing difficulty conceiving strongly agreed that they would seek assisted reproductive technologies if needed, while around 90 percent agreed or strongly agreed that such treatments were accepted by their community.

The cost of trying again

Lebanon has established fertility specialists and IVF centers, but treatment is largely provided through the private healthcare system. Patients therefore have to consider not only the procedure, but medication, laboratory testing, embryo freezing and storage, genetic testing and potentially additional transfers. “Affording one IVF cycle isn’t necessarily the same as being able to afford an IVF treatment journey,” Dagher said. While he describes the IVF procedure itself in Lebanon as comparatively inexpensive internationally, medications and injections used for ovarian stimulation can be costly. Against Lebanon's economic crisis and regional instability, some patients struggle to finance treatment or continue after an unsuccessful attempt.

Religion, law and the question of a third party

According to Dagher, Lebanon does not have a single comprehensive law governing all aspects of assisted reproductive technology. He points to the Lebanese Code of Medical Ethics, including Article 30, as part of the principal framework. Under the framework he describes, IVF and artificial insemination are permitted within married couples. Dagher says egg and embryo freezing are permitted, as are genetic testing of embryos and gender selection. He describes egg donation as legally permitted and practiced, with donors unable to legally sell their eggs, although compensation may be provided for expenses, time and effort. Sperm donation and surrogacy are more complicated, according to Dagher. Although both may be practiced, he says neither is currently considered legal.

Religion adds another layer. Catholic teaching rejects IVF, while Sunni Islamic rulings generally permit assisted reproduction only when it involves the husband's sperm and wife's egg within marriage. Dagher says some Shi'a religious authorities permit egg donation, although there is no single position shared by all Shi'a authorities. Christian denominations also differ in their approaches. For Lebanese patients, deciding whether to pursue IVF can therefore involve far more than whether medicine can help them conceive. It can mean navigating family expectations, religious beliefs, legal boundaries and financial limitations. As fertility treatment becomes more visible in Lebanon, the conversation is slowly shifting too, from infertility as something to hide toward a medical experience that many couples quietly share.