Zora Health / Employer guide / Qatar
Support employees through fertility treatment, and keep the talent you have invested in.
Fertility treatment rarely fits around a work calendar, and most employees go through it quietly, often while doing some of their best work. Zora Health helps you build practical fertility support, from policies and manager guidance to confidential care navigation and access to 128+ partner clinics in 16 countries, around your workforce and budget. Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with us.
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Five things Qatar HR leaders should know
- Law No. 22 of 2021 requires employers to fund basic health insurance for expatriate staff. Secondary guides list fertility treatment as a common exclusion, so many employees pay for IVF themselves.
- IVF is offered by Hamad Medical Corporation and private hospitals. In 2016, Al Ahli Hospital priced a full IVF procedure at about QAR 18,000, a Ministry-approved fee and the latest published price we could verify.
- A 2019 regional review found that Qatar has no specific assisted reproduction law and that doctors follow Sharia rulings. Clinics treat couples using their own eggs and sperm, and do not offer donor gametes or surrogacy.
- Private sector maternity leave is 50 days at full pay after one year’s service under Labour Law No. 14 of 2004. There is no statutory paternity or fertility leave in the private sector.
- Aon projects Qatar’s gross medical cost trend at 10.0% for 2026, up from 8.5% in 2025. A fixed annual allowance sets the employer’s maximum cost in advance and keeps a fertility benefit’s budget predictable.
Why fertility is a business problem for employers
Fertility treatment does not fit around a work calendar. A clinic sets the date of a scan the day before. Egg collection happens when the body is ready, usually about 36 hours after a final trigger injection. Then comes a two-week wait, and for many couples, another cycle. Your team feels it: missed meetings, unexplained absences, a strong performer who suddenly goes quiet.
We found no published survey of employees in fertility treatment in Qatar, so there is no local figure for how many hide it from their employer. The multi-country evidence suggests many do: in Carrot Fertility’s 2023 survey of 5,000 people in Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and the US, 79% said they were uneasy discussing fertility at work.
- Resignations. 39% of employees with fertility challenges left or considered leaving their job during treatment, in Ferring’s 2025 survey of more than 3,600 employees and employers in Australia, France, Japan, Poland and the UK.
- Lower performance. 55% said fertility challenges had hurt their work performance (Carrot, 2023, Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and the US).
- Short leave, no treatment leave. Private sector maternity leave is 50 days, and the Labour Law has no fertility or paternity leave, so appointments come out of annual or sick leave (Labour Law No. 14 of 2004).
- Unequal access. Qatari citizens receive public healthcare without insurance, while expatriates rely on employer-arranged cover that may exclude fertility treatment (Gulf Times, 2021; Qatar Living, 2026).
What employers gain
Keep the people you spent the most to develop
Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary, according to Gallup. A written policy, paid time off and a funded allowance can help address barriers that contribute to employee attrition.
Stand out in a tight labour market
73% of employees facing fertility challenges said a role offering fertility support would appeal to them (Ferring, 2025), and 65% said they would change jobs for fertility benefits (Carrot, 2023). Female labour force participation was 61.9% in 2025 against 95.6% for men, according to ILO modelled estimates published by the World Bank.
Make fertility support financially predictable
A fertility benefit does not need open-ended cover. An annual or lifetime allowance sets the employer’s maximum cost in advance. That matters in Qatar, where employers must fund basic health insurance for expatriate staff and, according to an insurer’s guide, cannot pass any part of the premium to employees (APRIL International, 2026). Aon projects Qatar’s gross medical cost trend at 10.0% for 2026, up from 8.5% in 2025 (Aon, 2026 Global Medical Trend Rates Report).
Zora helps employers structure benefits around local treatment costs, the gaps in mandatory health insurance and the rules on who can receive treatment, so HR can run the programme within an agreed budget.
Want to see what this would look like for your Qatar workforce?
What IVF costs, and what the state pays
Qatar publishes no standard IVF fees or national IVF registry. The World Health Organization estimates that about 1 in 6 people worldwide are affected by infertility; we found no recent national prevalence study for Qatar. Public IVF is provided by Hamad Medical Corporation, including a unit at Al Wakra Hospital opened in February 2022. Private IVF is offered at hospitals including Al Ahli Hospital, Sidra Medicine and Elite Medical Center.
| Treatment | Setting | Reported cost or status |
|---|---|---|
| IVF, full procedure | Al Ahli Hospital (private), 2016 | About QAR 18,000, a price approved by the Ministry of Health |
| IVF | Hamad Medical Corporation (public) | No published fee schedule; access is by referral |
| Egg freezing | Any setting | No verified published price |
Sources: Gulf Times, 8 March 2016; The Peninsula, 23 March 2024; The Business Year, Elite Medical Center interview. The QAR 18,000 figure is ten years old; ask clinics for current quotes.
| Item | Public support (or own savings) | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| Qatari employees | Public healthcare through Hamad Medical Corporation without insurance. Since July 2025, HMC’s referral scheme has covered Qatari patients facing long waits at five private hospitals, with HMC paying the full cost; fertility care was not named. | Waiting time, and any treatment outside the public pathway |
| Expatriate employees | Employer-paid mandatory insurance for the employee, spouse and up to three children under 18. The basic benefit list is set in Annex 1 of the Executive Regulations; secondary guides list fertility treatment as a common exclusion. A standard scheme for all expatriate residents has not been confirmed as fully enforced. | IVF and IUI costs the policy excludes, plus time off |
| Maternity care | Not guaranteed in basic plans; may carry a waiting period or a separate maternity limit. | Costs above plan limits |
| Egg freezing | No public support. Own savings only (not a subsidy). | Full cost, where a clinic offers it |
Sources: Clyde & Co, September 2022; Qatar Living, July 2026 (secondary guide); The Peninsula, 22 July 2025; Gulf Times, October 2021. Qatar has no personal income tax, so there is no tax relief for treatment.
Age is one of the strongest predictors of IVF success, alongside individual medical and treatment factors. Qatar publishes no national IVF success rates by age; Hamad’s Al Wakra unit reported a pregnancy rate of "up to 65 percent" after more than 100 IVF attempts, without saying whether this was per cycle or per embryo transfer and without an age breakdown (The Peninsula, 2024).
Live birth rates are lower than pregnancy rates, and older patients often need more cycles, which is why the size of an allowance, and when employees can use it, matter as much as whether you offer one.
Give Employees Access to Fertility Specialists
Help employees navigate fertility care with access to doctors and clinics, treatment information, and clear guidance on IVF, egg freezing and other fertility options. Employees can explore their options privately, without needing to go through HR.
Fertility clinics in Qatar on the Zora app include Fakih IVF Qatar, Aman Hospital and The Feto Maternal Medical Centre Doha.
Fertility support that fits your workforce and budget
You do not need to overhaul your existing health insurance to support employees through fertility treatment. Start with awareness and manager education, add confidential one-to-one support, or introduce a funded allowance across your offices. There is no minimum company size.
Where included in the employer programme, eligible employees can use talks and care navigation without paying Zora a separate fee. Care navigation allowances are set in each proposal. Treatment and other third-party costs are paid separately, either by employees or through the fertility allowance their employer provides.
Companies starting the conversation
Essentials
Expert-led talks for employees and managers, fertility and menopause policy templates, manager guides and full access to the Zora app. Up to 2 talks a year.
Employees supported one to one
Navigation
Everything in Essentials, plus confidential one-to-one care navigation and access to our partner clinic network.
Large teams across Asia
Complete
Everything in Navigation, plus quarterly anonymised reporting, a dedicated account manager and scheduled review meetings with HR.
Optional add-ons can be added to any programme, subject to availability: hormone and fertility diagnostics and telehealth with specialists. Pricing is tailored to your headcount, your countries and the services you choose. Most companies start with a single talk.
Request a proposal See how Zora works for employers
Comparing fertility benefit providers? Use our RFP question bank
Most RFP templates were written for the US. Ours has 40 questions written for Asia, with why each one matters, what a good answer looks like and a scoring sheet for three providers. Six of the questions for Qatar:
- Are local-plan employees covered, or only staff on international health plans?
- Do you require an infertility diagnosis before support starts?
- Which clinics do you work with in Doha, including Hamad Medical Corporation and private hospitals, and how do you check their licensing and reported results?
- How do you set eligibility in Qatar, where treatment is limited to married couples using their own gametes, and can single employees use the allowance for egg freezing abroad?
- How does the allowance work alongside our mandatory expatriate health insurance and the public care Qatari employees receive?
- How do you handle employee health data under Qatar’s Law No. 13 of 2016, including any authorisation needed to process sensitive data?
Your download link appears here as soon as you submit. Zora Health may contact you about employee benefits; see our privacy policy.
Plan your fertility benefit budget
Fertility benefit budget planner
Model the annual claims budget for a fertility allowance. Change any number.
This is a claims budget, not a Zora quotation. Zora’s programme fees, implementation and optional services are separate.
Illustration only. Utilisation is an editable assumption, not observed Zora data. The calculation assumes each user claims their full annual allowance, and excludes programme fees and setup costs. For a tailored model, request an employer proposal.
Estimate the potential workforce impact of fertility challenges
A rough planning scenario. It applies a global infertility estimate to your headcount, so it is not a prediction for your workforce, a measured loss or a forecast of savings from any programme.
Range: QAR 1,127,500 to QAR 3,190,000 a year, depending on replacement cost.
Assumptions: infertility affects about 1 in 6 adults (World Health Organization, 2023), applied to employees aged 25 to 44. Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary (Gallup, 2019); the headline uses the low end. Absence is valued at salary divided by 250 working days. Exit rate and days lost are your own assumptions.
This is a hypothetical cost scenario, not a prediction of actual employee departures, an estimate of Zora’s financial impact or a guaranteed saving from fertility benefits.
Already have corporate health insurance? Here is where Zora fits
Your medical plan may cover some consultations and tests, but fertility treatment is often limited or excluded, so check your policy wording. Employees still need to understand their options, the public funding they qualify for and which clinic suits them.
Zora works alongside your existing insurance and benefits. We help employees get reliable information, navigate their care options and reach suitable specialists, and we give HR manager guidance, policy templates and, on the Complete programme, anonymised reporting. You strengthen fertility support without replacing your medical plan.
How Zora works
For your employees
Employees join the Zora app with a company code, or single sign-on for larger teams. They can learn about fertility and egg freezing, understand what your benefit covers, book a confidential care navigation call and find partner clinics and specialists.
For HR
- Kick-off, week 1. Agree goals, countries and which employees are eligible.
- Policy and benefit design, weeks 2 to 4. Draft or update your fertility policy using our templates.
- Launch, typically weeks 4 to 6. A launch talk for employees and managers, plus a communications pack for HR to send.
- Live support. Employees book care navigation calls and use the Zora app.
- Reporting, every 3 months, on the Complete programme. Anonymised usage, common themes and our recommendations, reviewed with your account manager.
Privacy
Employee privacy is central to our programmes. On the Complete programme, routine employer reports contain aggregated engagement and utilisation information, with safeguards to prevent identification of individual employees. On every programme, personal health information is not included in standard HR reporting, and employees can get help without telling their manager. Where eligibility checks or claims administration need individual-level data, access is limited to authorised parties for defined purposes, as agreed in writing before launch. Employee data is handled in line with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act and Qatar’s Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (Law No. 13 of 2016), which treats health data as sensitive personal data that needs regulator authorisation to process.
Clinics and doctors in Qatar
Zora’s directory lists 3 clinics and 12 doctors in Qatar. Locations include Doha. All of the clinics list IVF and egg freezing among their services.
Employees can browse clinics in Qatar, see IVF clinics and find a doctor in Qatar on the Zora app. The directory is for information only and is not an endorsement. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Qatar
Who can use assisted reproduction
A 2019 review of assisted reproduction laws in Muslim countries found that Qatar had adopted no specific law on artificial insemination and fertilisation, with doctors following Sharia rulings and scholars’ fatwas, and only research regulated (Middle East Fertility Society Journal, 2019). We found no later Qatari law on assisted reproduction. Under the Sharia rulings followed in the region, IVF is generally limited to a married couple using their own eggs and sperm. In 2025, Sidra Medicine said it does not offer donor sperm, donor eggs or surrogacy, in keeping with Qatar’s legal and religious frameworks (The Peninsula). Confirm current rules with local counsel.
Egg freezing
We found no published law or Ministry guidance on elective egg freezing in Qatar, and no verified clinic offering it to unmarried women. Because treatment generally follows Sharia rulings, eggs frozen by a single employee would likely be usable only within marriage. Take local legal advice before offering it.
Maternity leave, and no fertility leave
Under Article 96 of the Labour Law, a woman with a full year of service with her employer gets 50 days’ maternity leave at full pay, at least 35 of them after delivery. The Labour Law has no paternity leave; employers commonly offer 3 to 5 days by policy (Yomly). There is no fertility or IVF leave, so employees use annual leave or sick leave.
Dismissal protection and health data
Article 98 bars an employer from ending a woman’s contract because she married or took maternity leave, or giving notice during that leave or notice that would expire during it. Under Law No. 13 of 2016, health data is sensitive personal data: processing it needs authorisation from the National Cyber Governance and Assurance Affairs department of the National Cyber Security Agency, and fines can reach QAR 5 million.
Longer leave in government, insurance for expatriates
Law No. 25 of 2025, in force from 7 October 2025, amended the Civil Human Resources Law for government employees, extending maternity leave for twins and disability and allowing remote work late in pregnancy (Al Tamimi). Mandatory health insurance under Law No. 22 of 2021 began with visitors on 1 February 2023; as of 2026 there is no official notice that the standard scheme is enforced for all expatriate residents (Qatar Living, 2026).
Why employers choose Zora
Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with Zora Health. We work alongside your existing insurance, helping employees use the cover they already have and find suitable specialists based on their needs.
Trying to conceive with a heavy workload took a toll on my husband and me. It helped us understand our options.
Questions HR teams ask us
Is fertility leave mandatory in Qatar?
No. The Labour Law (Law No. 14 of 2004) has no fertility or IVF leave and no paternity leave. Women with a year’s service get 50 days’ paid maternity leave. Employees in treatment usually use annual or sick leave.
Does mandatory health insurance in Qatar cover IVF?
Law No. 22 of 2021 requires employers to fund basic health insurance for expatriate employees and their families. The basic benefits are listed in the Executive Regulations, and secondary guides list fertility treatment as a common exclusion, so check your policy wording.
Who can have IVF in Qatar, and can employees freeze their eggs?
Clinics in Qatar treat couples using their own eggs and sperm, and do not offer donor gametes or surrogacy. Practice follows Sharia rulings, which generally limit IVF to married couples. We found no published rules allowing elective egg freezing for unmarried women. Agree eligibility with local legal counsel.
Does Zora replace our health insurance?
No. Zora works alongside your insurance. We help employees understand their options, find suitable specialists and use the cover they already have.
How much does a fertility benefit cost an employer?
It depends on the allowance, eligibility and expected uptake. Use the budget planner on this page for a first estimate, then ask us for a tailored proposal based on your headcount and countries.
How quickly can we launch?
Typically 4 to 6 weeks from contract to launch, depending on scope and countries. Most companies start with a single talk.
Related guides for Qatar employers
Build a fertility benefit for your team
Whether you are introducing fertility benefits for the first time or improving an existing programme, tell us your headcount, countries and priorities. We will come back within two working days with suitable services, an indicative budget and a practical rollout plan for your Qatar team. No obligation.
Not ready to talk yet? Explore how Zora works
Sources
- World Bank, Fertility rate, total (births per woman), Qatar, 2024
- World Bank (ILO modelled estimate), Labour force participation rate, female, Qatar, 2025
- Gulf Times, Al Ahli Hospital opens IVF and Fertility Lab, 8 March 2016
- The Peninsula, First quadruplet delivery at Al Wakra Hospital after successful IVF treatment, 23 March 2024
- The Peninsula, Sidra Medicine fertility care, 10 June 2025
- Middle East Fertility Society Journal, Review of assisted reproduction techniques, laws and regulations in Muslim countries, 2019
- Clyde & Co, Qatar issues Executive Regulations to the new mandatory health insurance scheme, 30 September 2022
- Gulf Times, Mandatory health insurance to guarantee access to comprehensive healthcare, 20 October 2021
- Qatar Living, Qatar expat health insurance: coverage, costs and employer obligations, July 2026
- APRIL International, Qatar employer health insurance obligations: 2026 guide for HR teams
- The Peninsula, Private hospital referrals to cover all specialties for Qatari patients, 22 July 2025
- Qatar Labour Law No. 14 of 2004 (English text), Articles 93 to 98
- Yomly, Types of employee leave in Qatar, 2026
- Al Tamimi & Company via Mondaq, Qatar amends human resources framework, 25 November 2025
- DLA Piper, Data protection laws of the world: Qatar
- Aon, 2026 Global Medical Trend Rates Report (data as of October 2025)
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Fertility Matters at Work and This Can Happen, workplace fertility survey, November 2025
- Carrot Fertility, Global Fertility at Work report, 2023
- Gallup, This fixable problem costs US businesses $1 trillion, 2019
- World Health Organization, 1 in 6 people globally affected by infertility, April 2023
Information on this page is correct as of 5 November 2026. Laws, public funding, insurance rules and treatment costs change often, so check current rules with the relevant authority, insurer or a qualified adviser before making decisions. This page is general information, not legal, financial, tax or medical advice.