The Rise of Fertility Medical Tourism

Since the first IVF baby was born in 1978, scientists and doctors have made great strides to provide greater quality of care and more successful outcomes, with greater success rates leading to greater demand. Globally, over ~8M people alive today are the result of IVF, and with infertility rates rising, that number will only continue to grow. Estimates place the global prevalence of infertility as affecting around 16% of couples of fertile age groups. The rising level of infertility is due but not limited to individuals desire of starting families later in life, unhealthy lifestyles and diet, increased acceptance of non-heterosexual relationships, and increased acceptance of non-traditional paths to parenthood.

Currently, the global fertility market is valued at ~$22B, and is expected to grow to ~$48B by 2030. We see this estimate as conservative given the accelerating degree of macro trends growing the market, as discussed above. A few of the larger markets for fertility care include the US, Asia, and Europe, which together make up ~90% of the global fertility landscape. These markets prove overwhelming demand for fertility services; however, we predict that within regions and across borders, an increasing number of patients will choose to seek fertility services outside of their home countries for affordable care.

Fertility patients may seek out IVF or other assisted reproductive technologies abroad for a variety of reasons, with restrictive home country regulations often the most powerful factor.  However, cross-border care may also be favorable to patients considering elements such as cost, effectiveness, accessibility, and availability of diverse donor gametes. According to data gathered in 2010, globally ~25,000 couples traveled annually for reproductive care.  Today, the number of those specifically seeking reproductive services globally is unknown, but likely numbers in the tens of thousands in Europe alone and in the hundreds of thousands in Asia.

As major markets such as the US, Europe and China continue to experience high infertility rates accompanied by high costs of treatments, we expect an increase in travel to neighboring regions for care. With this global surge in demand and development in new regions, there will be a consolidation of technological resources and care coordination.

Stay tuned for our examination of Latin America, Southeast Asia, and specific countries within Europe such as Portugal and Spain as emerging hotspots for fertility medical tourism in our next newsletter!

‍