INFORMATION
IVF in Greece
Britons fertility tourists 'go east' for cheaper IVF
BRITISH couples desperate for a child are becoming “fertility tourists” to take advantage of the low prices and high success rates of eastern European IVF clinics.
Treatment in countries such as Slovenia and Hungary generally costs half as much as in Britain, yet is often more likely to result in a pregnancy. This has made it attractive to British patients, three quarters of whom pay for therapy.
While there are no official figures for the numbers travelling abroad for treatment, they are believed to run into hundreds every year. At least two British clinics organise treatment in Spain, Greece and Romania, and doctors predict that more people are likely to follow this route following the enlargement of the EU.
Slovenia and Hungary are the most attractive likely destinations for fertility tourists as both countries have higher IVF success rates than Britain and significantly lower prices. A cycle of treatment in either country costs about £1,600, compared with up to £4,000 in Britain.
The latest European survey of IVF, places Slovenia third with a success rate of 36.2 per cent, Greece in joint 7th place with 32.3% and Hungary ninth on 31.9 per cent.
Britain comes 14th, with a success rate of 28.4 per cent, the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Berlin was told.
Most existing fertility tourism takes place because of the shortage of donated eggs in Britain, which means many women who have no viable eggs of their own choose to travel to countries such as Spain and Greece where donors are more available.
The use of the internet has become a powerful tool to obtain information quickly & anonomously, and the "patchwork" legislation existing in countries in Europe can be exploited to choose a country that offers a restrictive or rare treatment in their own country.
Study into the use of the internet in couples searching for IVF information
Success Rates in IVF
What are my chances Doc?
"There are lies, damn lies and then statistics"
Benjamin Disraeli
One of the most difficult questions you will ask is what is the success rate of the unit that you plan to attend. It is one of the most important questions that you will want to know so why is it often so hard to get a straight answer?
The success of a IVF unit can be made to almost any number desirable. The honest answer is that most patients will fail to achieve a pregnancy than succeed -simple fact.
The problem arises as there are so many ways to represent the data
Pregnancy rate ( judged by positive pregnancy test or detection of fetal heart by ultrasound ) per stimulation cycle, per egg retrieval or per embryo transfer ?
e.g 200 IVF cycles with 35 deliveries
| 150 embryotransfer |  |
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| 175 egg collections | |
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| 200 IVF cycles | |
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| 17% | 23% | 23% | 27% | 30% | 33% | |
| 35 deliveries |  |
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| 40 advanced pregnancies | |
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| 45 clinical Pregnancies | |
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| 50 positive pregnancy tests | |
Another point to concider is the policy and patient population of the IVF unit:
Patient selection
Individuals have widely ranging pregnancy likelyhoods and units with a higher number of women over ,lets say 38 years of age, will have a lower total pregnancy rate.
Cancellation
By canceling patients with poor ovarian response will increase the total pregnancy rate
Number of embryo transferred
Number of fresh embryos transferred is one of the most simplest ways to increase pregnancy rate.
It should not be the aim of the media to report great advances in reproductive medicine as the information can be misinterpreted and lead to false hopes.
More often than not a new method is only applicable a select population of patients.
| HFEA National Livebirth Data 2000-2001 | <38 | all ages |
| All IVF/ ICSI Cycles Started | 25.1% | 21.8% |
| IVF+ICSI per ET | 28.9% | 25.4% |
| Frozen embryo per ET | 16.9% | 14.7% |
Recently in the media the transfer of embryos at the blastocyst stage has been reported with high success rates-but this is not applicable to all patients as some patients after electing to wait for the embryos to develop to blastocyst stage have no embryo transfer at all!
| No. patients | Embryotransfers | Positive pregancy tests | Pregnancy rate | Actual pregnancy rate |
| 100 | 100 | 40 | 40%(40/100) | 40% |
| 100 | 60 | 40 | 66%(40/60) | 40% |
It is advisable to discuss the suitability for blastocyst transfer as many units may recommend transfer at the blastocyst stage if there are many oocytes collected or if previous IVF attempt have been unsuccessful with good quality embryos.
A couple who have undergone several unsuccessful IVF attempts may be more willing to accept an IVF attempt with no embryo transfer at the end of their treatment.
The literature reports take home baby rate as 20% and is accepted that success after IVF largely depends on the age of the women with pregnancy rates dropping after the age of 40 to less than 5%
How are you best to be advised then? Choosing a clinic
The answer is not easy and cannot be reduced to just a number but as in many things look for long and extensive experience, innovation and compassion.
Review the general reputation of the professionals and learn as much as you can. Talk to friends and finally trust your own judgment.
