What a treatment trip from the Gulf to Goa involves

Who this guide is for

Patients travel to Pai Hospital, Vaddem, Vasco-da-Gama, from Dubai and the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, and from the towns within about 200 km of their main cities, such as Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, Al Khobar, Makkah and Taif, Al Wakrah, Barka and Nizwa, for termination of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and for fertility treatment. Each country has its own page on travel from there; this guide covers what is the same for everyone.

Before you fly

Call or WhatsApp us and send whatever reports, scans or test results you already have. For termination of pregnancy, the date of your last menstrual period and any scan is usually enough for the doctor to tell you what to expect. For fertility treatment, this is when investigations already done in the Gulf can be reviewed and anything still needed identified, so less time is spent repeating tests once you arrive. On the phone we can tell you whether an abortion is possible in your situation and help you plan your visit; we do not give any treatment or medicines over the phone. Read exactly how that first conversation works.

Most patients from the Gulf travel to India on an e-Medical visa, a category the Indian government created specifically for patients coming for treatment, with a matching e-Medical Attendant visa for anyone travelling with you. Apply through the official Indian government visa portal and check the current requirements yourself, since the rules and eligible nationalities can change and this is not something we administer or control.

What to bring with you

• Identity. Your passport, and your visa if you are not an Indian national. If you are an Indian national, your passport or another government-issued photo identity card. It is used only to confirm your identity for your hospital record, and that record is confidential.
• Reports. Any scan, pregnancy test, blood report or blood group result you already have, and for fertility treatment any investigations done in the Gulf.
• Your medicines. A list of what you take regularly, or the strips themselves, and details of any allergies or past operations, including a caesarean.

The full list, including what to wear and whether to fast, is on preparing for your appointment.

What needs you here in person, and what does not

Some things genuinely cannot be done at a distance. For termination of pregnancy, the scan that confirms gestation is done in person before anything else, and then either the medication course or the surgical procedure itself needs you here — surgical termination is usually a single day-care visit; the medical route is usually spread over a couple of visits a few days apart. For fertility treatment, ovarian stimulation is monitored with a series of scans and blood tests over roughly ten to fourteen days, so that part of a cycle needs you in Goa; egg collection and embryo transfer both need you physically present on the day, and a semen sample or a micro-TESE procedure for male infertility needs the same.

Exactly how many visits and how many days apply to you depends on your own situation, and your consultant will set out a realistic schedule once he has seen your reports and, where needed, examined you.

One hospital, one consultant, throughout

The doctor you speak to by phone is the doctor who examines you, and who operates or carries out the procedure, in the same building — the operating theatre and the embryology laboratory are both at Vaddem, Vasco-da-Gama. You are not handed between departments or between doctors during your visit.

The facilities at the hospital

• An operating theatre licensed by the government specifically for termination of pregnancy under the MTP Act.
• Three registered doctors on staff, so that where the law asks for a second doctor's opinion it is given here, on the same visit.
• Ultrasound in the hospital's own department, done on the day you arrive, and surgical procedures carried out under real-time sonographic guidance.
• Single-use, disposable instruments and consumables, nothing reused between patients.
• Short anaesthesia with monitoring, and rest afterwards in a quiet, private space under a nurse's care; most procedures are day-care.
• The hospital's own embryology laboratory for fertility treatment, in the same building.
• Care for emergencies, deliveries and surgeries 24 hours a day.
• The hospital's own cars, so pick-up by car can be arranged within Goa.

More detail is on the hospital infrastructure page.

The consent form, and what it signifies

A termination requires the consent form the Indian government prescribes to be signed, and it is signed only at a place approved for this care. The medicines used are prescription-only and are given only under a registered doctor's supervision. It protects you: it records that the decision was yours, taken with a doctor who had examined you, at a place licensed to do it.

The figure you are given is the figure you pay

Send your reports and we can usually give you a close estimate before you book anything. It rests on a recent ultrasound, though, and cannot account for an examination that has not happened yet. Once you are here and the hospital's own certified doctors have assessed and examined you, you are given a precise, itemised cost — hospital, medical, pharmacy and laboratory. That becomes a promised package in rupees, and it does not move at the end. See cost of abortion in India and the full abortion services overview for more.

Getting from Goa airport to the hospital

The hospital runs its own cars within Goa and the neighbouring border states. Pick-up by car can be arranged once you are in Goa — from the airport, from wherever you are staying, or from anywhere else in the state — and you are brought back afterwards. Goa has two airports: Dabolim (GOI) is a few kilometres from the hospital, and Mopa (GOX) in North Goa is about an hour and a half further by road. Check current routes and timings from your city before you book. This is a Goa-side service; it does not cover the international leg of your journey.

Flying home

Once your procedure or your embryo transfer is done, your consultant will tell you when it is realistic to fly. Plan a day or two of buffer rather than booking a flight for the same evening.

Our commitment to your privacy

The whole visit — from the first WhatsApp message to the flight home — is built around your privacy. Nothing about your visit is discussed outside your care team or shared with anyone: not your family, not your employer, not anyone who telephones asking about you. This is also the law. Section 5A of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, added in 2021, says that a registered medical practitioner may not reveal the name or other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated, except to a person authorised by law. Read how confidentiality actually works here, and what is lawful once you arrive on our page on Indian law for Gulf patients. See also privacy and confidentiality in abortion care.

Or call +91 95459 20817 · +91 75582 52088 · 0832 251 3641

This page is for general education and is not personal medical advice. Treatment depends on your own examination and reports, so please speak to a doctor about your situation. We do not carry out or offer sex determination of any kind.