I had been considering hair transplant for quite some time. I am in my early 30s and started shedding/receding when I was 26. Personally I did not take good care of my hair as I was too busy with work and family but soon realized that it was definitely affecting my overall appearance. Before I made my mind about getting a hair transplant, I started using minoxidil which definitely helped in some areas. I had also considered finasteride but decided not to take it due to its risk. When I finally started researching different clinics, it was confusing that every clinic apparently has amazing 5 star reviews making it even harder to choose the right one. After thorough research I narrowed it down to 3: Hair of Istanbul, Now Hair Time and of course Diamond Hair Clinic. Both Hair of Istanbul and Now Hair Time have good reputation no doubt about it and the before and after pictures look amazing on IG and for some people that is good enough but here are some of the main reasons why you may not want to go with the two clinics. 1. the entire procedure is carried out by the assistants without the involvement nor the presence of the doctor 2. Doctors are not accredited hair transplant surgeons. 3. Language barrier for those who cannot speak turkish and this is important when you have to explain # of grafts in certain areas or when creating the line before the surgery. From the 3, Diamond Hair Clinic is the only one with a qualified hair transplant surgeon (Dr. Mehmet Demircioglu). It is the only one that takes one patient a day and utilizes the entire day to be with the patient throughout the surgery and no language barrier. These are some of the reasons why I decided to go with Diamond. I started my conversation with Diamond through WhatsApp where I sent my photos and received a comprehensive report from the doctor in 2 days outlining the # of grafts that can be extracted and areas that requires implantation. Based on the pictures I sent, they mentioned that 5500 grafts can be extracted which was more than what I was hoping for. I must say that Diamond was the only clinic that provided such a professionally detailed report which was produced by the doctor vs the other clinics who basically only provided the # of grafts extracted and the price. I had made up my mind once I saw the report and booked my flight to Istanbul, Turkey for Dec 2020. The package included 3 night stay at a 5 star hotel which included free breakfast and transportation. Also includes 6 month hair care kit which costs around 750 EURO. All I had to do is book my own flight and provide them with the details regarding my flight so they can pick me up from the airport. On the day of the surgery, I was picked up from the hotel (Elite World Prestige Hotel) which is a 5 star hotel very close to the Taksim Square and was taken to the hospital at 11AM. Mind you that it was on a Sunday which was a day off for the Doctor but he worked around my schedule and made it possible. I met Dr.Mehmet Demircioglu for the first time at the hospital along with his amazing team. The consultation took about an hour where the doctor explained the entire process, took my blood sample, drew the line on my head, and inspected my donor area. What was surprising to me was that after the doctor inspected my donor area, he decided that 6500 grafts can be extracted because my donor area was really good. Very few hair transplant surgeons can pull off that many numbers of grafts in one sessions and Dr. Mehmet Demircioglu is one of them. The doctor explained that there will be 3 stages of the surgery. First is the extraction of the grafts from my donor area done by his team, this process took around 4 hours and required local anesthesia which is quite unpleasant for about 1 min and painless for the rest of the procedure. Second is the incisions done by the doctor which took about 3 hours and also required local anesthesia, this is the most important stage as it requires great attention to detail using the sapphire blade to create incisions. lastly is to implant the extracted grafts done by his team and took around 6 hours, once this stage was completed they also applied the PRP treatment. Since 6500 grafts were extracted, the entire procedure including lunch, washroom and walk breaks took around 16 hours. Breaks was definitely helpful because you are literally sitting in position for long hours. All in all the procedure was comfortable and I even managed to take small naps during the surgery once the local anesthesia kicked in. Once the surgery was done, I was recommended by the doctor to stay inside my hotel the following day to avoid any infection which is what I did. On my last day, I was picked up by their driver in the morning and taken to the hospital where the doctor took off the bandages from my donor area, gave me my first wash, provided instruction on how to take care of my transplanted hair and gave me a 6 month hair care kit. He also provided his personal cell number to update him of my progress and ask any question that I may have. It has been just over 2 weeks since I got my hair transplant and I am extremely satisfied with the results so far and would highly recommend Diamond Hair Clinic to anyone who is planning on getting their hair transplant. :)