Fertility tourism

Fertility Tourism

What is it?

Fertility Tourism or Reproductive Tourism is the practice of traveling abroad to find available fertility treatments.

It can be considered as a form of medical tourism and encompasses fertility treatments, as well as, egg donation and donor insemination by in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Egg donation is the process by which a fertile women provides on or more eggs to an infertile woman for proposes of assisted reproduction. This process is illegal in some countries in Europe, but almost half of all in vitro fertilisation treatments with donor eggs are performed in Spain. The most wanted assisted reproductive technology by Canadians traveling for the United States of America is the IVF with anonymous egg donation. A study showed that 80% of Canadians cross-border treatments were anonymous egg donation with IVF.

Donor insemination is a procedure in which a tube is inserted through the cervix into the uterus to deposit a sperm sample directly into women’s reproductive system. The usually requirements for sperm donors are: the men who have no genetic problems in their family, a 100% eyesight, a college degree and sometimes specific blood type, age, eye colour, height, hair texture and also ethnicity. The inventory of taller men who are blonde and have blue eyes are the most popular.

Who looks for it?

Approximately 20.000 to 25.000 European couples seeks for this type of services abroad, annually.  Around 40% of US women search for IVF and 52% search for IVF with egg donation.

There are some countries that prohibit single women to do IVF, as well as, homosexual couples, therefore they have no other choice than to seek for IVF outside of their countries.

Why do they look for it?

The main reasons for people seek for this kind of services and procedures are regulation of fertility treatments, legal prohibition and non-availability of a specific treatment in their hometown, and also lower costs in other destinations.

Where can they find it?

Nowadays, there are a lot of countries doing this kind of procedures, but the top ten is:

India: Offers modern fertility techniques and procedures through more than 500 fertility centres, some of them with 30 years of experience in the field.

Mexico: Is preferred for fertility treatments and processes due to its liberal mind regarding the Assisted Reproductive Technology. Most of the experts have been trained in the US, therefore the language barrier is not a problem and they also have access to the latest technologies.

Thailand: It’s cheaper and they have both male and female fertility treatments with high success rates and performed with modern medical equipment and techniques.

 Latin America: They have made a huge progress in fertility tourism and Join Commission International (JCI) accredited fertility clinics in some countries. They have English speaking physicians who trained aboard, modern methods and equipment, and also affordable prices. Most of these clinics offer a 50% refund in case the treatment is not successful.

Turkey: After US, Turkey is the country with the most JCI accredited hospitals and clinics. These clinics offer safe, high quality, and modern techniques but the price can be 80% lower compared to the US.

Malaysia: The clinics in Malaysia are between the top 5 in medical tourism destinations for various kinds of treatments, among which fertility tourism and they have a high success rates.

Easter Europe: In Eastern Europe they accept surrogacy, egg and sperm donation anonymity as well as embryo storage. All treatments are regulated by the Law on Health Fundaments and also the Family and Civil Codes.

South Korea: Known as the Mecca for Plastic Surgery, the number of tourists visiting South Korea for fertility treatments has progressing over the past few years. They have medical experience, the latest technology for the procedures and also affordable prices.

Europe: Is one of the most chosen destination for this kind of treatments due to its open minded attitude approaching this subject. There are more than 300 fertility clinics and according to European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, 35% to 40% of the foreigners go to Spain for the fertility treatments. One of the main reasons is that in Spain they have a rich stock when it comes to egg donation of younger women, which is sought for women with 40 years old or more.

South Africa: In South Africa we can find all kind of fertility treatments at outstanding clinics at economical prices. Professionalism and experience of the fertility specialist with high trained staff, modern equipment and accredited clinics are their real strengths.