Rise in assisted reproduction tourism in Asia threatens local medical services

Local health services in low income countries and women of reproductive age are the unacknowledged victims of increasing demand for cheap assisted reproduction from people in rich countries, says a review in the journal Reproductive Health (2011;19;37:107-16; doi:10.1016/S0968-8080(11)37575-1).

Andrea Whittaker, associate professor at the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland, Australia and author of the study, says she is particularly concerned about the lack of regulatory systems to prevent and reduce exploitation of medical resources and women for surrogacy in poorer countries.

Asia, India, and Thailand are major hubs for …