Public health and reproductive tourism: The impact of buying and selling fertility services in a global market

With the advent of reproductive technologies, options for conception, pregnancy, and childbirth have multiplied. A growing market in fertility services has created international trade in reproductive capacity, including fertility services, the sale of eggs and sperm, and commercial surrogacy contracts. As a multi-billion dollar industry, reproductive tourism raises a variety of public health questions, particularly concerning the health of the women using the technologies and the children born through their use. This presentation will present what little public health data is available related to the use of assisted reproductive technologies. It will highlight the absence of information on the incidence of reproductive tourism and lack of information on the health impacts of the technologies. The speaker will connect public health concerns to social, ethical, economic, and human rights concerns related to reproductive tourism and pose questions for public health professionals to consider in this age of rapid developments in biotechnology.