Increase in IVF tourism in Europe

At Treatment Abroad, we've seen increasing interest from IVF clinics abroad that are experiencing significant growth in patient numbers from the UK and other European countries.

The latest report from the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology confirms an increase in IVF treatment abroad, The report surveys infertility clinics in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland and is based on a sample of 1,230 patients visiting these infertlity clinics. See details of the report in the Guardian.

Lack of access to IVF services in the home country for the over 40's and legal restrictions on infertility treatment are the prime drivers. Italy was the biggest source of IVF "medical tourists" accounting for 32% of the patients in the survey. Next was Germany (14%), followed by the Netherlands (12%), France (9%) and the UK (5%). The average age was over 37 but 63.5% of the British patients were over 40.

According to study coordinator, Dr Francoise Shenfield from University College Hospital in London, "Spain and the Czech Republic are popular destinations for oocyte donation; Swedes travel to Denmark for insemination, and the French to Belgium." She also highlighted the significant numbers of Italians who travel abroad to receive treatment that was rendered illegal in their home country under recent legislation or because they believe they will receive better quality care.Extrapolating the data, EHSRE estimates that 20,000 to 25,000 cross-border fertility treatments are carried out each year.IVF related medical tourism is a relatively new but growing trend in the UK, as couples delay having children into their 40's and then discover that they have a problem.

IVF treatment is available within the National Health Service in the UK, but access to treatment can be a problem.

• Age and waiting lists can be a barrier to treatment.


• Overweight women are excluded from NHS treatment.


• Demand for egg donation exceeds supply. ( The right of anononymity for egg donors was removed in 2005)

Obviously, private IVF treatment is available in the UK but this may be expensive and the same legal restrictions will apply.

Whereas some areas of medical tourism may be feeling the effects of the recession and the resulting impact on people’s pockets, IVF treatment abroad is an opportunity worth pursuing for those IVF clinics abroad that can demonstrate impressive results and cater for the needs of the “fertility tourist”.

EU Cross-border Healthcare Directive boosts health tourism

The new EU Cross-border Healthcare Directive which is to be announced today intends to lift restrictions on patients travelling for treatment in other EU countries. Patients wishing to travel to other EU countries for medical treatment will be able to reclaim the cost of treatment from the NHS and will only have to pay their travel and accommodation costs, plus any top-up fees if charges in the foreign hospitals are higher than the NHS cost.

The directive could revolutionise the way we experience healthcare in the UK and throughout the rest of Europe. The directive will take the concept of patient choice to a new level. Competition from European hospitals could prompt much needed changes within the NHS. Successive UK governments have made token gestures to introduce market forces within the NHS; ranked 17th out of 29 European countries in the recent Euro Health Consumer Index, the NHS now faces real competition in the European marketplace.

The Directive will provide a framework for cross border healthcare and will deal with issues such as quality of care, patient safety, method of funding and transfer of patient information. There are also plans to introduce "European reference networks" which would bring together medical expertise across Europe and encourage greater collaboaration between centres of excellence.