Before you book your plane ticket to India for your IVF cycle, please read this. It isn’t as simple as it may seem. Patients ask me all the time about what I think about travelling overseas. It sounds great, pay thousands less to achieve your goal of a family. But is it really worth the possible savings? When you take into account travel costs and time away from work it’s actually a losing proposition.
Two recent stories that shed light on why you should stay home for your IVF cycle:
1. A Canadian couple recently tried to return home after traveling to India to pick up their new twin babies born to an Indian surrogate mother. The couple, both doctors, had contracted with a woman in India to carry children conceived from the couples own eggs and sperm. Prior to coming back home, Canadian officials ordered DNA tests on the children and all were surprised to learn that the twin babies were not related to either the Canadian couple or to the Indian carrier. The couple left India without the babies, who may end up spending their childhood in an Indian orphanage.
2. In another story from Israel, 9 couples were informed by the Assuta Medical Center in Tel Aviv that a poweroutage resulted in damage to the couples’ embryos. The damage destroyed the embryos. The power outage was caused by an engineer who was conducting a test of the faciltiy’s power system. It occurred at Assuta Medical Center’s campus in Ramat Hachayal, which is considered to be the most luxurious private hospital in Israel.
The two stories above are just two of the many reasons why travelling out of town for your IVF cycle may not be in your best interest.
Hope this helps.
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