For some people fertility treatments with donated sperm and/or eggs are unavoidable, such as patients who receive cancer treatment, suffer from genetic or congenital diseases causing infertility or those at risk of passing a genetic disease to their offspring just to name a few.
Often, patients with fertility challenges choose to explore alternative options and travel abroad instead of having treatment in their own country. This usually happens due to lack of access to publicly funded IVF treatment, local rules on who can and cannot access IVF treatment, or even availability of sperm and donor eggs. Patients look for options for more effective treatments, better success rates; quality of the clinic and the clinicians; safe medical destination; the ability of the clinic staff to communicate effectively in international language such as English and lastly, but not least, lower price of treatments.
Cyprus can provide all these requirements for fertility patients travelling from abroad. The country has been investing greatly in Medical Tourism for many years, and as result we already see the high reputation it has established amongst other EU countries and worldwide. The country has a secure and safe healthcare infrastructure with high standard private health and medical services. Doctors in Cyprus are highly qualified and usually experts in their field. The cost of medical treatment is low and there is almost no waiting list to receive any treatment in the private sector. With its natural beautiful sceneries; the always good weather and abundance of sunshine; excellent choices of high standard accommodations; Medical Tourists will be able to combine treatments of body, mind, and soul.
That is why we, at Cryos International, the largest gamete bank in the world with over 30 years of experience in this field, decided back in 2018 to expand to Cyprus, having also seen this great potential the country has in “fertility tourism”. Our vision is to help people, from Cyprus and abroad, make their dream of a family come true. At our state-of-the-art facilities in Nicosia, fertility patients can obtain the high-quality sperm and/or egg donors needed for their treatment from Cryos and receive the donation treatment at one of Cyprus’ high caliber IVF Clinics. In fact, Cyprus possesses the right infrastructure and regulations for assisted conception technologies, in line with EU Tissue and Cell Directive (EUTCD), as well as the ease of access to the island, acting as a geographical bridge between the East and the West. Therefore, our aim is to contribute, in our own way, in the development of fertility tourism in Cyprus, enabling it to become a ‘fertility haven’.
By Saghar Kasiri-Director of European Operations, Cryos International
