IVF Northern Cyprus - Buyer Beware

[irc]

Northern Cyprus has become a centre for cheap IVF treatment. It seems you get what you pay for.

"Having believed they had carefully selected donors on the basis of medical history, appearance, personality, education and hobbies, families now have reason to think those donors were not used by the clinics at all. Staff had promised screened, healthy donors from western Europe, but DNA tests for 11 of the children have shown they have genetic ancestry from Turkey or nearby countries."


"A 2019 study of women with multiple pregnancies giving birth at a large London hospital found that overseas IVF pregnancies had worse outcomes: 24 per cent of babies died within 28 days of birth, compared with zero in the group of mothers who had had fertility treatment in the UK."


https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/articl...

Edited by irc on Sunday 23 August 12:16

[greygoose]

Always seems bizarre that people would go to Turkey, Northern Cyprus etc for cosmetic or fertility treatments and not expect that standards are lower…..

[HTP99]

greygoose said:

Always seems bizarre that people would go to Turkey, Northern Cyprus etc for cosmetic or fertility treatments and not expect that standards are lower ..

Yeah but it's cheap....

What annoys me is the NHS generally have to sort it out.

[abzmike]

Getting teeth or hair done on the cheap in Turkey/Cyprus is one thing… IVF would be another level of madness.

[M1AGM]

People get desperate and make poor decisions as they always have done and always will. When it comes (excuse the pun) to being able to procreate, people may have very strong feelings and/or desire to have kids despite nature saying no, being completely rational in that mindset not so much. IVF in the uk has historically been very expensive privately, and as there’s no guarantees on IVF being successful you can see why people in their desperation look for cheaper options. The clinic is at fault not the people it lied to.

The statistics on the births is interesting but I dont think it’s as simple as UK IVF good, others bad. We dont know why those mothers went abroad for IVF. Could be because in the UK they were told IVF wouldn’t be a good option due to medical concerns (age, genetics etc) for example, so they went abroad where the computer doesn’t say no. Wasn’t there a case a few years ago of a much older woman going abroad for IVF under those circumstances?

[oddman]

M1AGM said:

The statistics on the births is interesting but I dont think it s as simple as UK IVF good, others bad. We dont know why those mothers went abroad for IVF. Could be because in the UK they were told IVF wouldn t be a good option due to medical concerns (age, genetics etc) for example, so they went abroad where the computer doesn t say no. Wasn t there a case a few years ago of a much older woman going abroad for IVF under those circumstances?

The clinics also have a reputation for gaming the odds by implanting more embryos than would be recommended in UK

Multiple pregnancies are an order of magnitude more risky.

Although the overall success of IVF is poor, UK clinics guard their success rates jealously. Suspect that patients turned down due to being a poor prospect or not prepared to pony up for the best treatment, support and advice may shop around.

Incredibly naive to accept clinics assurance about donor ID/suitability.

[JagLover]

abzmike said:

Getting teeth or hair done on the cheap in Turkey/Cyprus is one thing IVF would be another level of madness.

Can't access original article, but Northern Cyprus has become popular for surrogacy which may be why some are going. Places that offer commercial surrogacy at reasonable prices are quite rare. Ukraine used to be one and is now a war zone.

[Opapayer]

Northern Cyprus is not a country. It is a part of the Republic of Cyprus that has been illegally occupied by Turkey since they invaded in 1974. Whatever the drivers of that invasion (neither side were angels in the build up), the fact it’s still illegally occupied half a century later should tell you all you need to know about the legality of the place in terms of doing any business there

[StevieBee]

greygoose said:

Always seems bizarre that people would go to Turkey, Northern Cyprus etc for cosmetic or fertility treatments and not expect that standards are lower ..

Turkey has a decent reputation when it comes to hair and teeth. I know one lady whose NHS dentist bodged some corrective work and ended getting some really good work done in Turkey. The guy who did it works both in the UK and Turkey.

The northern part of Cyprus is different. As Opapayer mentions, it's a bit of a non-entity in terms of sovereign state status which means regulatory control is poor or non-existent. Its attraction is price and the fact that all of the big-ticket stuff there (Cars, Property, Healthcare) is transacted in £GBP via UK banks, often via UK registered companies which gives buyers a misplaced sense of trust and security.

[g3org3y]

Opapayer said:

Northern Cyprus is not a country. It is a part of the Republic of Cyprus that has been illegally occupied by Turkey since they invaded in 1974. Whatever the drivers of that invasion (neither side were angels in the build up), the fact it s still illegally occupied half a century later should tell you all you need to know about the legality of the place in terms of doing any business there

[Sixsixtysix]

HTP99 said:

greygoose said:

Always seems bizarre that people would go to Turkey, Northern Cyprus etc for cosmetic or fertility treatments and not expect that standards are lower ..

Yeah but it's cheap....

What annoys me is the NHS generally have to sort it out.

If its proven that the treatment was provided outside the UK, the NHS should decline to help and just refer them back to where they had it. In an emergency, bill them the full amount. No exceptions.