Medicine

ART medicine – high European service or child with guarantee?

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French medicine is considered to be one of the best ones in the world. For many years it takes the 3rd – 4th position after the U.S.A, Germany and Switzerland. Nevertheless France cannot to boast of high level of reproductive medicine.

In France, success rate of one IVF cycle with donor eggs ranges up to 20%. Donation is carried out on a non-commercial basis in France. Therefore, there is little or nothing those wishing to share their eggs. Demand for donor eggs is rather high. Therefore, process of eggs selection is not perfect and quality of biological material is low.

France has a system that helps to compensate lack of donor oocytes. One patient shared her experience and told us that when she visited one of the French clinics she was asked to invite her friend who will become a cells donor for other infertile couples. Woman told this story is 39 years old. Most often, patients after 40 need donation programs. And their friends are not 25 years old girls but women out of reproductive age and with poor quality of eggs.

Non-profit basis of donation causes shortage of qualitative donor eggs. Donors do not receive any reward for serious risk they run agreeing to donate their eggs. Since eggs is taken under general anesthesia, by operative treatment doctors puncture ovaries. This operation does not exclude death, at best — loss of ovaries. So many girls do not agree to risk their life and limb for the benefit of strangers. But if donation procedure is commercial much more young girls (with qualitative, young oocytes) become donors and IVF programs with donor eggs have more successful results.

Another Frenchwoman said that after repeated failed IVF attempts with donor eggs doctor advised her to visit Spanish clinic and gave a list of recommended centers of reproductive medicine. Due to the lack of biological material and its poor quality French gynecologists often send patients to Spanish clinics. There commerce of donor eggs, sperm and embryos is also prohibited by the local law. But Spain fertility centers buy donor cells of high quality and transport them in a frozen form (cryopreservation). At home Spanish doctors unfreeze eggs. This process negatively affects eggs quality. Moreover Spain specialists divide oocytes between patients. In good Spanish clinics, such as, Bernabeu institute, Institut Marquès, Dexeus and IVF Spain clinic, professionals achieve only 30 % success rate per one treatment cycle.

Not only developed European countries such as France and Spain have taken on board reproductive medicine, in particular egg donation, but lame duck states as well. India and Ukraine conduct lion’s share of reproductive programs. These are the third world countries with underdeveloped medicine and low economy level but they take leading positions in the reproductive medicine sphere.

Donation is paid in these two states and in such way many local girls agree to help patients who need it and at the same time earn money for own needs. At an average one donor of three is chosen. Such woman has high quality eggs. Moreover, doctors in India and Ukraine use only fresh biological material and do not divide eggs that multiply chances for successful result.

Clinics which specialize just in egg donation give a guarantee of a positive result and refund money in case of failure. Ukrainian center for human reproduction BioTexCom is among such medical institutions. Patients come there from all over the world and even after 8 failed IVF attempts in European countries receive positive result in BioTexCom after the first — second attempt.

But if you visit Ukrainian clinic you will have to wait. We have got into touch with BioTexCom center and asked how long patients have to wait to start surrogacy program or IVF with donor eggs. In response, we heard that on average patients wait in line about six months. But patient receives guarantee that he will go home with a child.

In India and Ukraine, egg donation and surrogacy programs are conducted on a commercial basis, i.e. donors and surrogate mothers receive monetary compensation and go through detailed medical examination. As a result, only qualitative biological material and healthy surrogate mothers participate in programs. Due to this fact clinics have high success rates. India and Ukraine maintain the lead in surrogacy programs. And it is despite the fact that in these countries you will not find great European service, balanced infrastructure and advanced medicine.

Medical centers that function in these weak states have already been competing with foreign counterparts, especially in success rate. Thus, according to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, on average 40 % of 100 treatment cycles in India and Ukraine are successful. This rate is even higher than the European one.

But Europeans see Ukraine as politically instable, corrupt country with the shadow economy. India in their opinion is a fall behind time, wild country with incompetent doctors. Such countries smell fishy and don’t have credibility in health services, especially reproductive medicine. Image of the country stops foreigners who need services of reproductive medicine. Europeans will rather visit small clinic, with a low level of quality in Spain than center with high success rate but situated in Ukraine or India. As there they will not find elements of high service which they are accustomed to.

Most often foreigners are interested in eggs donation (80%) and surrogacy (15%) ART programs. Taking into account popularity and success of these programs India and Ukraine have express conditions to increase commercial attractiveness of this area. And European countries, meanwhile, defend interests of their clinics by creating additional barriers to their citizens who use assisted methods of reproductive medicine abroad. For example, officials complicate the process of registration for children who were born abroad with the help of surrogate mothers.

As one can see, market of reproductive medicine service is rather wide-ranging. And it’s no accident — according to the World Health Organization, number of infertile couples all over the world has been growing. And demand breeds supply. You get to choose.

 

 

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