Spain - Popular for Fertility Services

Relaxed laws on embryo donation in Spain draw increasing number of foreigners from European countries.

BARCELONA - Helped by some of Europe's most permissive assisted reproduction laws, Spain has become one of the continent's most popular destinations for women trying to overcome infertility problems.

A lot of foreign women come to Spain to escape their countries' restrictive national laws.

Though no official statistics exist, experts estimate that between 6,000 and 8,000 foreign women undergo assisted reproduction treatments in Spain each year, often using donated embryos - a practice that is banned in many other European countries.

"In 2005 there were 42,000 in vitro fertilisation procedures carried out in Spain, of which between 15 percent and 20 percent were performed on foreigners," says Buenaventura Coroleu, the head of the Spanish Fertility Society (SEF).

The SEF's figures are gleaned from data offered voluntarily by fertility clinics nationwide. The total number could therefore be considerably higher, particularly as Spain has gained a reputation as a destination for so-called reproductive tourism in recent years.

Frank and Lena, a couple from Nuremberg, Germany, found out about the fertility options available to them here over the internet.

Six years ago, they had their first child following an in vitro procedure in Germany because Frank is sterile. But after giving birth, Lena also developed fertility problems.

Though they wanted to have more children they came up against a battery of legal hurdles in Germany where the donation - and subsequently the implantation - of ovocytes and embryos is prohibited. They thought therefore that their chances of becoming parents again had been reduced to nil, until Lena discovered something "incredible" on the internet.

"In Spain there's a clinic where they let you adopt embryos," she recalls telling her husband.

At first the couple thought it seemed strange, but they were won over after talking with representatives of the clinic in question, the Institut Marqués in Barcelona.

"We packed out bags and went to Barcelona," says Frank.

At the time they didn't even tell their family. Their second child was born two years ago, and they have since repeated the procedure. Today, they are expecting twins.

Like many other clinics offering fertility services in Spain - particularly in Madrid, Valencia, the Costa del Sol and Barcelona - the Institut Marqués saw the potential for offering services to foreigners early on.

"We started in 2003, and back then we had about 10 [foreign clients] a year. Now they account for 60 percent of our business," explains Raúl Olivares, a representative of the Barcelona clinic.

The Institut Marqués has four translators on its staff to deal with customers from over 30 countries, though the vast majority come from Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

"Each year around 4,000 women go abroad. More than a quarter go to Spain," notes Rosella Bartolucci, a member of SOSInfertilitá, a group campaigning for an easing of Italy's assisted reproduction laws.

In Germany, one fertility expert estimates that around 3,000 German women undergo fertility treatments in Spain each year.

Most do so to escape restrictive national laws.

In France, for example, fertility treatments are not available to single women or homosexuals, while in the United Kingdom donations of embryos are not anonymous, resulting in very few people being prepared to donate.

In Italy, meanwhile, advertising fertility treatments involving donated embryos - even if the procedure is carried out in another country - can carry a prison term of two years and a fine of up to EUR 600,000.

Making a living from giving life
Students make up a large percentage of Spanish embryo donors, a trend that is particularly noticeable during the summer. "Many students use the money to pay for university in September.

During the rest of the year there are around 15 donations per week, but in July and August there are up to 22," says the Institut Marqués' Raúl Olivares.

In other countries, however, there have been cases of women trying to make a living from donating embryos, leading to calls for a pan-European regulation of the industry.

In Slovakia, donors are paid around EUR 500 for each embryo when most people make around EUR 650 a month.

According to Denisa Priadkova, a Slovakian activist, there have been cases of Ukrainian women travelling to Bratislava to donate embryos and making as much as EUR 3,000 a year.