For years foreigners have come to Thailand for medical care, enticed by cheap prices and great beaches, and now some clinics are carving out a niche with fertility treatments too expensive or too controversial elsewhere.
Among the latest treatments offered is a procedure creating fierce ethical debate and available in just a handful of countries -- a treatment that allows couples to decide whether to give birth to a boy or a girl.
The service, known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), is available to women having in vitro fertilization (IVF), and screens embryos for gender before they are implanted in the womb.
PHOTO: AFP
"Many people come from Australia because the government does not allow sex selection," said Pinya Hunsajarupan, a doctor at Jetanin Institute for Assisted Reproduction, the biggest fertility clinic in Thailand.
"They also come from China and India," Pinya said.
IVF is the most common procedure for the so-called "fertility tourists." The process can cost more than US$10,000 in Europe or North America, but could be as little as one-third that amount here.
"Most [foreigners] come because treatment in Thailand is much cheaper," said Phattaraphum Phophong, a fertility specialist at Bumrungrad International hospital.
He estimates that foreigners account for about 60 percent of the 500 patients that visit the hospital's fertility unit each month, with clients coming from Europe, the US, Japan, the Middle East and other countries in Asia.
"Some come here for travel as well," Phattaraphum said. "They have the first treatment and they go to Phuket for a week."
But sun and sand are not the only draw.
The Jetanin Institute is one of a handful of Thai clinics offering PGD which tests the chromosomes of embryos created outside the body for genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
The process can also test embryos for gender, raising fears that people would try to create "designer babies" with the sex of their choice.
The technique is banned in many countries, but Thailand's Medical Council has only advised against sex selection, meaning clinics can take advantage of a gap in the market.
Dennis House, an international consultant at the Bangkok-based Ramkhamhaeng hospital group, said he began thinking about offering the service after he read news stories about sex selection in the US.
Six weeks ago the group began offering a range of reproductive services aimed at foreigners, including surrogate mothers, sperm and egg donors and PGD.
"I've had probably 30 to 40 inquiries in that time," House said.
"Many are from the US ... and also some from Europe and Australia where I guess there are some regulatory problems," he said.
House says he would be reluctant to offer PDG for gender selection without discussing it in depth with the patient.
"If they come to us and say I have seven daughters and would like a son, it's not my decision at that point," he said. "Personally I am a Buddhist and don't believe in intervening like that."
Pinya said that he was not too concerned about the ethical issues because very few were having the treatment, which costs US$7,000 to fertilize an egg and then test for its gender.
But Phattaraphum is worried about the way the increasing number of new treatments are used.
"I think we have to respect the embryo as a human, I don't think we should be able to select boys or girls," he said.
"Some couples come to see me and ask for this but I don't agree, I try to make them think about the human rights," he said.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS