Almost all monitoring during stimulation or endometrial preparation can be carried out close to home. The Greek clinic receives your results on the same day and decides on the doses and dates; you only need to come for the egg retrieval and embryo transfer.
Remote IVF monitoring is what makes treatment in Greece compatible with a normal life: scans and blood tests are carried out at home, close to your workplace, and the Greek clinic interprets the results. This works well, provided that the results reach the clinic complete, legible and on the same day.
Here’s how to organise it, whether using your own eggs, donor eggs or for a frozen embryo transfer, and exactly what you need to send.
The main examination is a transvaginal ultrasound scan, which counts and measures the follicles in each ovary – the small sacs of fluid where the eggs mature. The ESHRE guidelines on ovarian stimulation, updated in 2025, state that the routine addition of an oestradiol test to the ultrasound scan is probably not recommended. A 2021 Cochrane review, covering six trials and 781 women, found no clear difference in pregnancy rates or the incidence of hyperstimulation between monitoring by ultrasound alone and monitoring combined with oestradiol measurements, with evidence of low quality.
Blood tests still have specific uses: assessing the risk of hyperstimulation, or measuring progesterone levels on the day of the trigger injection when a fresh embryo transfer is planned. How to interpret the figures, and the pitfalls of units, are explained in the article on oestradiol and progesterone.
Timetables vary depending on the clinic and the protocol; stimulation generally requires two to three ultrasound scans, sometimes more.
| Stage | Where | What is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Before the first injection | at home | an initial ultrasound scan, sometimes a blood test |
| After about a week of injections | at home | the first check-up: number and size of follicles; the clinic adjusts the doses |
| Over the following days | at home, then in Greece if you are already there | a check-up every one to three days, until the follicles are ready |
| Trigger injection | wherever you are, at the time set by the clinic | on the day decided by the clinic, usually when several of the largest follicles measure between 16 and 22 mm |
| The egg retrieval | in Greece | usually 34 to 38 hours after the trigger injection, at the time set by the clinic |
The practical implication is simple: you must be there no later than the day after the trigger injection, and usually before then, for the final checks. You should therefore book a flexible ticket. There are two possible arrangements: a single stay of eight to twelve days, with the final scans at the clinic, or two short stays – three to four days for the egg retrieval followed by two to three days for the embryo transfer – when all follow-up care takes place at home. Full details can be found at how many days to stay in Greece.
An incomplete report means the clinic has to contact you again, wasting a whole day. Here is the list I provide before the first check-up:
Send everything in the morning, as a legible photograph or PDF, via the channel agreed with the clinic. Injections are often administered in the evening, so that the dose can be adjusted on the same day: a result sent at the end of the day may arrive too late. The times given by the clinic are in Greek time; convert them in writing, as explained in the article on injections.
This needs to be sorted out before you start. You will need a gynaecologist or an imaging clinic that performs transvaginal ultrasound scans, is willing to see you at one or two days’ notice – sometimes on a Saturday – and provides a detailed report. If possible, have all your check-ups with the same practitioner, so that the measurements are comparable from one visit to the next.
As for prescriptions, within the European Union, a prescription issued by a doctor in another member state is valid in all EU countries, but its dispensing follows the rules of the country where you use it, and a medicine may have a different name there or may not be available. Ask for a paper prescription, stating the active ingredient, the strength and the quantity. What your health insurance reimburses for these tests depends on your country: ask before starting treatment. For France, the procedure for the S2 form is explained separately.
The Greek clinic remains responsible for the treatment: it sets the doses, chooses the day of the trigger injection and tells you when to travel. The ESHRE guide to best practice for treatment abroad states this clearly, and adds that collaboration between your doctor at home and the clinic abroad offers the best chance of optimal care. The doctor who examines you at home is responsible for their examination and report; they are not required to alter the protocol, nor are you. You should also keep a copy of each report: the same guide recommends that patients be given a copy of their medical records.
An emergency, however, must be treated where you are. A rapidly swelling abdomen, rapid weight gain or shortness of breath mean you must call the clinic the same day, and sometimes go to A&E; the signs are detailed in the article on hyperstimulation.
For a recipient of egg donation or a frozen embryo transfer, there is no ovarian stimulation: remote monitoring focuses on the endometrium, the lining of the womb that will receive the embryo. In a hormone-supplemented cycle, you take oestrogen; an ultrasound scan checks the thickness of the endometrium, and the clinic then sets the start date for progesterone, which determines the day of the transfer. In a natural cycle, ultrasound scans and tests are used to detect ovulation. The two methods are compared in natural cycle or hormone-supplemented cycle.
The most commonly cited threshold is 7 mm. A 2014 meta-analysis of over 10,000 IVF cycles shows that an endometrial thickness of 7 mm or less is associated with fewer pregnancies – 23.3 per cent compared with 48.1 per cent – but that this applies to only 2.4 per cent of cycles and is a poor predictor of individual outcomes; according to the authors, it does not, on its own, justify cancelling a cycle. In a Canadian registry of nearly 19,000 frozen embryo transfers, the birth rate remained stable from 7 mm onwards and decreased below that threshold, with results still considered acceptable. It is the clinic that decides whether the thickness is sufficient; if your endometrium is usually thin, read the article on a thin endometrium.
For you, this means one to three ultrasound scans at home, sent to the clinic, followed by a flight booked once the date is confirmed. The stay is then reduced to two to four days for a transfer using donated eggs, and two to three days for a frozen embryo transfer.
This is one of the stages where a treatment journey most often hits a snag: a report without units, a result sent too late, or a doctor who hasn’t received the protocol. I put your doctor in touch with the clinic before the cycle begins, with a protocol written in English, and then I forward the results and have them translated if necessary. If you would like us to organise your remote monitoring together, please write to me.
Yes, for the most part. Ultrasounds and blood tests are carried out by a gynaecologist or at an imaging clinic near you, and the Greek clinic decides on the dosages and dates. You only need to come in for the egg retrieval and embryo transfer.
Usually two to three, sometimes more. The first scan takes place after about a week of injections, then scans are repeated every one to three days until ovulation is triggered.
The date, the day of stimulation, the diameter of each ovarian follicle per ovary, the endometrial thickness and the doctor’s contact details. Please attach the blood test results, including the units and the time of sampling.
Egg retrieval usually takes place 34 to 38 hours after the trigger injection, according to the schedule set by the clinic: you must be there no later than the day after this injection, and often earlier for the final checks. Book a flexible ticket.
Source: https://fertilitegrece.com/en/blog/remote-ivf-monitoring-scans/ — Triada Baloukoudis, IVF patient coordination in Greece. General information, not medical or legal advice. Printed on
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