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
