Surveillance 2010 was compiled by Professor Ian Cooke of the IFFS, who says: "What is considered acceptable varies from country to country. These great differences in clinical practice do not show up in other fields of medicine, indicating that social or religious attitudes, rather than the best practice of medicine, often drive what is allowed. In Italy, the legal need to replace fertilised embryos goes against all clinical thinking. The variation in international laws relating to infertility treatment is one of the reasons that cause couples to seek cross-border treatment. Whilst this is unavoidable we call for international standards to ensure these patients receive consistent advice and safe treatment. Although a country’s law or professional society guideline for treatment may reflect the overall cultural view in that jurisdiction, it does not necessarily mean that all that country’s residents have the same view. They may then seek access to the treatment abroad."
The survey shows that many Catholic countries have strict controls on the use of embryos. Costa Rica declared IVF unconstitutional in 2000 because it regards the embryo as a person from the moment of conception. Costa Rica is the only one of 43 countries where IVF is illegal. The huge variety of what is or is not allowed, helps create cross-border fertility treatment. Many people travel abroad for fertility treatment and have success with no legal difficulty. The review of reproductive health services highlights large discrepancies in regulations and practice in several nations. As a consequence, some patients who go overseas may face legal or medical issues. A third of the 43 countries do not permit surrogacy
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and IFFS are concerned that the safety of patients crossing borders is no longer assured due to lack of uniform clinical and safety standards between the different countries. ESHRE, in co-operation with national and statutory organisations, is developing a code of practice on cross border reproductive care that will lay out a set of rules that protects and reassures patients, donors, surrogates and future children.
Francoise Shenfield, of ESHRE’s cross border task force and author of the first study of European patients crossing borders to obtain fertility treatments says, "Although in principle the care of foreign and local patients should essentially be the same and fit the best possible standards, there is evidence that it is not always so."
Both international organisations support the rights of patients to travel to receive the best treatment. Ideally this should take place in their home country, but if patients need to travel to receive the best treatment, both societies support this decision. At the same time, ESHRE and IFFS call for the harmonisation of national standards to increase the safety of patients crossing borders to obtain fertility treatments in the hope that uniform standards of practice can ensure equitable treatment for all citizens.
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