Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said.
One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show.
About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born.
Photo courtesy of the Nuwa Fertility Center
Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟) said in a statement today.
Gamete donations in Japan are typically provided by people known to the couple, as it is illegal to set up a donation system, Wang said.
Taiwan on the other hand allows gamete donation with stringent screening for diseases, age, psychological condition, motivation and other considerations, he said.
Taiwan’s sperm and egg banks have donations from people in Taiwan, Japan and across Asia, which is a draw for many people in Japan, he added.
Taiwan’s Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) is also relatively strict, Wang said.
For example, an institution may only accept a first-time donation, or a donation from someone whose previously donated cells never resulted in a successful birth and were not stored, Wang said.
This is stricter than the US, where people are allowed to donate up to six times, he said.
Lastly, the cost of obtaining donated reproductive cells in Taiwan is relatively low, Wang said.
Besides being one-third the cost of similar programs in the US and Europe, Taiwan is particularly cheap and close for Japanese to visit, Wang said.
Taiwanese doctors are also able to provide services in many languages, resulting in an increase in medical tourism every year to become the top choice for infertility treatment in Asia, he said.
Taoyuan Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Shen Szu-yu (沈思佑) shared the story of one Japanese couple who came to Taiwan for treatment.
The woman who worked for Samsung delayed having children for her career, and was only able to start family planning at age 40, Shen said.
After five years of trying and more than 10 IVF treatments, she was still unable to get pregnant, she said.
She and her husband ultimately decided to come to Taiwan to try using donated cells, she said.
They had a virtual consultation before coming to Taiwan to undergo an examination, gamete matching and file an application, she said.
On their second visit to Taiwan, she had an embryo implanted and was pregnant within half a year, Shen said.
She still regularly sends ultrasound images to her Taiwan medical team to convey her gratitude, she added.
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