25 Questions to Ask Before Paying an IVF Deposit in Medellín

How to use this list

Copy the questions into an email to the clinic's international coordinator. Ask for written answers, and keep the reply with your receipt. You don't need a perfect answer to every question. Some will honestly be "it depends on your response." But a deposit request that comes before most of these are answered is moving faster than your information.

If you're still at the stage of choosing between clinics, two of our other guides come earlier in the process: the consultation to have before booking flights and the quote checklist. This list assumes you've chosen a clinic and are being asked to pay.

Group A: Who you are paying

1. What is the legal name of the entity I'm paying, and does it match the clinic named on my treatment plan? A broker, a doctor's personal account and the clinic itself are different parties with different obligations.
2. What is the treating physician's identification number, so I can check ReTHUS? Colombia's ReTHUS registry confirms whether a health professional is authorized to practice. For physicians, it also shows ethics sanctions. The public search runs by ID number (MinSalud, ReTHUS). Our guide to verifying a fertility doctor and clinic in Medellín walks through the facility side.
3. Where will each procedure take place? Retrieval, the lab and storage may be at different sites. Each one should be a facility you can identify and check.
4. Which payment methods do you accept? The FTC warns that anyone who insists you can only pay by one method, such as a wire or bank transfer, cryptocurrency, a payment app or gift cards, is likely a scammer. It notes that credit cards offer more protection and let you dispute charges (FTC, 2026). A real clinic can still prefer a transfer. Pressure to use one method only is the warning sign.

Group B: The medical basis

5. Has a physician reviewed my records, and which ones? A plan written before anyone has seen your results is a template.
6. What diagnosis is the plan treating, and why IVF now rather than another approach? The answer tells you whether the plan was built for you.
7. Which parts of the plan are essential, and which are optional? Every add-on should come with a reason that refers to your case.
8. Which tests must be repeated in Medellín, and which home results do you accept? Repeated tests add cost and days.
9. What result would make you change, postpone or cancel the plan? A real plan has decision points.

Group C: The lab and your embryos

10. Who directs the embryology lab, and is it on site? IVF depends heavily on the lab.
11. Will fertilization be conventional IVF or ICSI, and why? ASRM's 2020 opinion says routine ICSI for all eggs isn't supported by evidence (ASRM, 2020), so the reason should be specific to you.
12. How many embryos do you plan to transfer, and will you put that in writing? Under ASRM/SART guidance, a euploid (chromosomally normal) embryo should go in alone whatever your age, and exceeding their limits calls for counseling plus a justification noted in your chart (ASRM/SART, 2021).
13. What will my embryology report include, and when will I get it? You'll need it for any second opinion or later transfer.
14. Who controls my stored embryos, and what does the consent form say about disposition? Read the consent forms before paying, not on arrival. Our guide to embryo storage consent for international patients lists what to look for.

Group D: What the deposit secures

15. What exactly does this deposit reserve: a date, a donor, lab time or nothing specific? "Deposit" can mean very different things.
16. Is the deposit part of the total price, or an extra fee? Check that it's deducted on the final invoice.
17. What does the total price include and exclude, especially medications? The CDC's medical-tourism chapter tells travelers to check the scope of any quoted price and to know in advance where follow-up will take place (CDC Yellow Book, 2026).
18. What happens to the deposit if the clinic changes or cancels the plan on medical grounds? Is it refunded, credited or kept? Ask for each case.
19. What happens if I postpone for personal reasons, and how long does a credit last? Life gets in the way. Know the rules before it does.

Group E: Dates and travel

20. Which dates must I be in Medellín in person, at the earliest and the latest? Book flights around the late estimate.
21. Can monitoring start at home, and in what format should results be sent? This can change your arrival date by days.
22. Does my partner, if any, need to be present, and on which days? Sample timing and consent signatures can require being there in person.

Group F: After you leave Colombia

23. Who answers urgent questions after hours, how, and in which language? Get a name and a channel, not just "the clinic."
24. What summary will I receive before I fly home? CDC guidance is to leave with English-language copies of your records and pass them to whoever handles follow-up.
25. How will you coordinate with my doctor at home? Pregnancy tests, early scans and any complications usually happen far from Medellín.

Warning signs specific to the payment moment

• The account holder's name is a person, or a company you can't connect to the clinic.
• Bank details arrive in a message that doesn't match the clinic's earlier emails, or they change at the last minute.
• You're told a discount or a date expires within hours unless you pay now.
• The deposit is requested before you've received any written plan or consent forms.
• No invoice is offered, or the invoice doesn't say what the payment is for.

If bank details change unexpectedly, confirm them by calling the clinic on a number you found yourself, not one from the message.

If something goes wrong after you pay

If you think you've paid the wrong party or been scammed, act quickly. The FTC advises contacting the company you used to send the money right away, reporting the fraud and asking whether the transaction can be stopped or reversed. In the U.S., you can also report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. For a real dispute with a real clinic, start with the written answers you collected: they show what was agreed.

How to read the answers

Good answers are specific, written and consistent with each other. For example, the payment entity in question 1 should match the name on the invoice and the consent forms. Vague answers aren't automatically a bad sign, especially on medical questions that really do depend on your response. But a clinic that pushes for payment while avoiding Groups A and D is asking you to take on risk it could easily reduce.

Medical disclaimer: MedellinIVF.co is an independent educational and lead-navigation site, not a fertility clinic. Nothing on this page is diagnosis, treatment advice or a guarantee of outcome. Prices and policies change. Verify current information directly with the treating clinic and appropriate Colombian registries.