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Date Published: 04/10/2024

American mothers travelling to Alicante for fertility treatments

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Certain US states consider the disposal of embryos a crime

American mothers travelling to Alicante for fertility treatments

Spain has always been a destination for reproductive treatments and ever since the pandemic the number of women coming from the United States of America to Spain has risen. Having a child via invitro fertilisation in Spain is cheaper and safer than in the United states.

According to Dr. Andrea Bernabéu, director of the Instituto Bernabéu, founded in Alicante, people come to Spain for IVF because of the “excellence in the results obtained”.

In 2021, 45,666 babies were born in Spain using these techniques, according to data from the Ministry of Health, a figure that represents an increase of 22% compared to the previous year.

The success rate within Spain is a major reason for Americans to decide to undertake the treatment away from home. However, since 2022, there are other reasons that drive this change. One such reason is the legal advantage that Spain has compared with the United States.

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion and this also affected the laws on embryos and how they were treated.

In addition, an Alabama court ruled in February 2024 that frozen embryos should be considered children, thus fulfilling fears that a legislative change would affect couples who had embryos and were no longer able or willing to carry them.

Dr. Juan Carlos Castillo, also at the Instituto Bernabéu, states that “the legislative issue has certainly become very complicated for reproduction clinics.”

At the Alicante office he is used to dealing with foreign patients, as they usually make up 95% of the patients he sees.

“Patients are a bit afraid that they won’t be able to use their embryos later, or that if they decide not to use them, they might be penalised for this,” explains the doctor.

Linda is one of the American women who is coming to Spain for these treatments. In her case, she opted for one of the Instituto Bernabéu locations that has an airport with a direct connection to her country, Palma de Mallorca. “I decided to take control of my reproductive future,” Linda says.

To take control however, money is needed. There are specialised websites that encourage American women to leave their country and detail the lower cost of the treatments, which in the United States can be between 12,000 and 25,000 dollars per cycle, as the process is called for each embryo.

Linda appreciates the more affordable costs here than in the United States, where “treatment can be prohibitively expensive” and goes on to state that it is not only “because of the lower costs, but also because of the experience in fertility treatments that the country offers.”

Dr. Bernabéu boasts that “Spain has seen several growths in various reproductive medicine centres, which has meant that this healthy competition has made us grow and improve treatments.”

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