Fertility tourism, sometimes referred to as reproductive tourism, is undertaken by people who travel to another country for fertility treatments, with one of the main reasons for doing so being affordability. For many couples in America, for instance, fertility treatments aren’t generally covered by their insurance plans. As a result, the expenses for such care must be paid out-of-pocket, and in the US, the costs can be extremely high. On average, one “cycle” of IVF, or in-vitro fertilization, costs about $15,000 USD whether the procedure results in a successful pregnancy or not. Fertility clinics in a place like India perform the same procedure for $10-12,000 less.
The top destinations for fertility tourism span the globe, and they have become popular with couples looking for fertility treatments for a variety of reasons. Spain has become somewhat of a fertility-tourism hub because of its high-quality clinics and availability of donor eggs, stemming from a policy that pays women a substantial amount of money for their donated eggs. This is attracting large numbers of couples from the UK where wait times for eggs or embryos can be anywhere form 18-24 months. Another leading location is the Czech Republic because of its advanced clinics and technology, and affordability. IVF of In Vitro Fertilization (with donor egg, unlike when the egg and sperm of the couple seeking pregnancy is used) can run in excess of $30K in the US, but as little as $6500 in the Czech Republic.
And of course there is India , world-renowned not only for its affordable IVF, but its expertise in many other common treatments as well. The most popular procedures for fertility tourists besides IVF include artificial insemination (AI) , which introduces semen into the female vagina by means other than ejaculation; in-vitro maturation (IVM) , a process similar to IVF, but which collects eggs from the woman’s ovaries when they are still in an immature state in order to mature them in the lab before fertilization; embroyonic cryopreservation which involves preserving embryos at sub-zero temperatures for couples whose attempts at IVF may have failed, and who wish to try again without going through another full cycle of IVF; and there are various regimens of fertility drugs that are often more readily available and less expensive for Westerners if they head overseas.
Like all medical treatments , there are some risks associated to fertility treatments like adverse reactions to fertility drugs, increased likelihood of birth defects in children resulting from IVF, and the chances of having multiple births. With regards to the latter, many places have imposed legislation to restrict the number of embryos that can be inserted into the uterus. However, in some fertility tourism destinations, clinics are unregulated and there may be differing standards for care. Typically 1 or 2 embryos are inserted into a woman’s uterus, but in some places up to 4 or 5 are transferred in order to improve the chances of a successful pregnancy; but, this also increases the chances of multiple births and the associated complications.
As a type of medical tourism, fertility tourism is generally comprised of treatments that are mostly non-surgical and non-debilitating. Most procedures do not require a hospital stay, which typically means it is well-suited for the holiday aspect of medical travel . Overall, when you factor in cost-savings, the quality of care received in countries abroad, and the compatibility of many of the treatments with an exotic vacation, it is understandable why fertility tourism has become so popular.
source: http://www.mymedholiday.com / Home> Medical Tourism Articles / June 27th, 2013
