Such fertility holidays are arranged within the United States, albeit in cyberspace, via a website set up by a once reproductively-challenged Czech- American couple.
Ohio-based Craid and Marcela Fite run www.ivfvacations.com and proudly display the number of dreams they have helped come true with a meager $1,500 to $2,500 commission.
In 2006, the Fites went to the city Zlin for a round of in vitro treatments at the Clinic of Reproductive Medicine. The treatment, which normally goes for $1,000 to $15,000 in the U.S., cost them only $3,800 including medication.
The Fites successfully conceived a child, and with it their medical tourism business.
With one of the most liberal legal frameworks in Europe, nearly all types of treatment can be offered in the Czech Republic: egg donation, sperm donation, embryo donation, in vitro fertilization (IVF), micro injection (ICSI), embryo cultivation, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).
Couples can even select the profile of their donors adding their own specific requirements, something unthinkable in many countries.
Fertility holidays are so commonplace that hotels and spas even come up with special packages for tourists.
Spa-Resorts.cz has a tie-up with prominent Czech fertility clinics "to enhance the healing process" of its clients with various spa and wellness procedures.
