Infertility Tourism: Gender Selection in Cyprus Draws UK Patients

By Sarah Leavitt - Medical Research Editor | February 17th, 2011

PGD for Gender Selection is cheap, effective, and most importantly, legal in North Cyprus.

One of Britain’s top infertility specialists has been sending patients abroad to undergo PGD for gender selection, a procedure that is drawing a lot of media attention among Brits because it is considered illegal in the United Kingdom.

The UK media is questioning the ethical and moral issues regarding the controversial procedure and the fact that UK infertility doctors are cashing in on it. Even though they are denying the accusations, the media is saying that the UK infertility doctors are elevating the costs for Brits and sending the patients to North Cyprus for gender selection.

Has it become that important for Brits to determine the sex of their baby? Why are so many seeking this option to travel to North Cyprus just to know the answer to this question…boy or girl?

Charles Richard Kingsland, Director of the Hewitt Center for Reproduction at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, has been helping patients choose the gender of their unborn children for more than a decade, according to the UK’s Daily Mail.

Gender selection in the UK was banned in 2008 with the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a method of analyzing chromosomes to detect genetic abnormalities in embryos and can also be used for gender selection. The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) monitors the use of PGD in clinics throughout the UK to ensure the procedure is not used for determining the sex of unborn children.

Gender selection is illegal in most of Europe but not in North Cyprus. Cyprus has long been a vacation hotspot for UK citizens. As an easy destination within Europe, Cyprus has now become a major destination for fertility tourism. One clinic, North Cyprus IVF, has some of the highest success rates of infertility treatments at the lowest costs and they are the only government recognized infertility hospital in North Cyprus.

When it comes to infertility treatment, North Cyprus IVF is the lowest price, dedicated IVF hospital in Europe and it also happens to have the highest success rates.

Besides it being legal, there are financial benefits for patients who want to undergo PGD for gender selection in North Cyprus. According to The Mail on Sunday, UKCFA clinics charge £14,000 for sex selection. Infertility clinics in North Cyprus only charge about €5,500, including accommodation and transfers. £14,000 is approximately €16,600. As a result, UK citizens who travel to North Cyprus IVF in Nicosia, North Cyprus for gender selection save over €11,000.

Cyprus is one of the few countries where gender selection is legal. The procedure for PGD for gender selection at North Cyprus IVF implants three fertilized embryos of a known gender back into the mother’s uterus.

As in a regular IVF procedure, female eggs and the male sperm are fertilized in-vitro (outside the body) using ICSI technology. Two to three days later, the cells begin to divide and form into an embryo. PGD for gender selection involves testing either the X or Y chromosomes to determine the sex of the embryo using florescent in-situ Hybridization (FISH). By showing each chromosome in different colors, FISH allows doctors to uncover the sex-determining chromosome in the embryo before implanting it into the mother’s uterus. PGD also has the benefit of diagnosing any genetic mutations and so you have the guarantee that your future child will be free from any abnormalities.

PGD for gender selection is one of the most popular treatments at North Cyprus IVF. The clinic is so accustomed to treating patients from abroad that in addition to their infertility treatments, they offer packaged deals with airport pick-up, hotel accommodations and transport to and from the clinic.

Patients who do the ovarian stimulation at home are only required to be at North Cyprus IVF in Nicosia, North Cyprus for a total of 7 days to undergo the sex selection procedure and ensure success. To the British legal system, these 7 days appear as merely a week-long vacation to sunny Cyprus.

The controversy over Dr. Kingland’s actions stems from his profit in organizing a fertility treatment with the UKCFA that is illegal in Britain. Furthermore, his actions encourage healthy, fertile couples to undergo IVF when they otherwise would not qualify for an infertility treatment.

At North Cyprus IVF, your full treatment is arranged from North Cyprus and so there are no ethical implications within UK.

Latest Health News