The incapability of giving birth to a child has plagued hundreds of couples way back in the past. This was a painful void as much as it was a social stigma. Childless couples were in a desperate quest for seeking solutions to their infertility issues. When the clinics back home failed to provide them with an answer, they did not hesitate to move abroad where the pasture looked greener.
– Clinics abroad would provide them with the adequate medical support system and a team of dedicated doctors, fertility specialists, nurses and laboratory assistants who served day and night with dedication to make the dreams of the childless couples come true.
– Legal limitations and stringent regulations within which fertility treatment is put in a straight jacket back home have compelled a huge population of childless couples to travel abroad and get the treatment done.
– Non-availability of adequate treatment procedures in the home country has encouraged intending parents in the past to move overseas seeking solutions in those clinics where fertility treatment procedures suiting their requirements are readily available. This trend is being followed till date.
The chief procedures sought abroad are in-vitro fertilization technology (IVF) and donor insemination.
– Since past, the high cost of fertility treatment has also been a reason for getting the treatments and related checkups done in a foreign soil due to relaxation in expenses.
– From an early time, Israel had been a favorite hotspot for intending parents seeking In-vitro fertilization. This country has the largest number of fertility clinics per capita on a global scale. Fertility tourists came pouring in and there was an inflow of tourist dollars. Fertility clinics made a booming trade and with the money flowing in installation of the latest medical equipments and facilities could be made possible as was possible retaining the invaluable service of highly paid and talented fertility specialists in the Israeli fertility clinics.
– Countries like the UK and Sweden have faced an acute crisis of sperm donors as early as in the 1990 and in the initial years of the 21st Century. Consequently, this shortfall led to the flow of British females into Belgium and Spain in search of donor insemination. This resulted in a boom of fertility tourism into these countries helping financial backbone of tourism in these countries get stronger.
– The legal scenario in these two countries saw the need for an amendment to accommodate in more business putting an approved maximum limit to the number of children one donor may produce.
– The demand for donor insemination was so high in these countries that they were rather compelled to buy donor sperms from overseas countries to step up the supply matching an insatiable demand from intending parents across the globe.
– There was a legal approval for anonymous donation in Belgium. The fertility trade was at its helm. More money came pouring in. Belgium and Spain eventually permitted single, heterosexual and single and coupled lesbians to go ahead with fertility treatment.
The stigma of infertility has been haunting mankind since a very long time. The very concept of having a baby without the process of male – female copulation taking place was an unexplored realm in most of the countries. The concept of having a baby in a test tube within a laboratory aided environment was confined to only a few countries having made a sizeable progress in the field of medical and human reproduction science. As the news of the existence of ART clinics spread far and wide, intending parents from different corners of the globe came flocking in with big hopes. Mostly their hopes were fruitful and dreams were realized.