Professor Marcia Inhorn, Part One Editor’s Note: One of the presentations that garnered a lot of attention at the recent Center for Medical Tourism Research Conference in Austin, Texas, was Marcia Inhorn’s Reproductive Tourism: Global Trends, Middle Eastern Perspectives. A Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at Yale University, Inhorn is a scholar focused on the subject of Cross Border Reproductive Care. Medical Travel Today spoke with Inhorn after the conference to learn more on her studies and trends in the reproductive travel industry.

Medical Travel Today (MTT): Let’s start with your interest in reproductive medical travel. How did that start? Marcia Inhorn (MI): I have always been interested in infertility as a reproductive problem. The concept of people traveling to overcome infertility has always been part of the landscape. Beginning in the late 1970’s, when technologies were discovered to address infertility, people started traveling for in vitro fertilization (IVF). At that time we didn’t call it that or, for that matter, even talk about it. In 1991 the trend was dubbed Procreative Tourism. But it’s really only been in the last decade that people and the media began openly addressing the concept of people traveling for help with reproductive issues and pursuing technologies. For a time it was referred to as fertility tourism or reproductive tourism. But with the new millennium there’s been a terminological shift. Reproductive societies no longer call it tourism. They recognize that a journey like this is not about touring or even vacationing. This type of travel is actually more like a quest. In fact, in some cases, the people seeking care are actually reproductive “exiles” – traveling because they’re forced out of their home country for care. The new term being applied to the industry is Cross Border Reproductive Care, or CBRC. MTT: What is your research focus in CBRC? MI: I’m actually a Middle Eastern Scholar. In 2007 I did a study in Dubai in which I interviewed over 200 people from 50 countries, each seeking reproductive technologies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). MTT: Fifty countries? MI: Yes! They were from all over the world. The UAE is extremely cosmopolitan with a huge ex-pat community. There’s a real flow of patients from Africa where there’s a lack of IVF services. Dubai has a very generous visa policy. There’s a significant number of patients from the UK because, even though the UK has state-subsidized IVF, you’re actually put in a lottery. You can wait and wait for reproductive services. Some people don’t have time to wait, so they fund their own care by traveling. Similarly, patients from South Asia – Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan – have limited access to care, and it can be very low quality. In Dubai they can get easier access and higher quality care. The UAE sees 38 million travelers every year. They’re doing a very nice job developing themselves as a healthcare hub for reproductive services and other kinds of healthcare. MTT: What other hubs are developing specific to reproductive care? MI: Actually it’s fascinating. There are quite a number of hubs emerging. Spain is the biggest hub for egg donation. Belgium pioneered a variant of IVF called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) that targets male infertility. They’re really taking the lead in that area, as well as other reproductive technologies. Denmark is a hub for sperm donation. In fact, they export more sperm than any other country. India’s establishing itself as a hub for transnational-gestational surrogacy. In the Muslim world, Iran is the most permissive country for reproductive technologies, and is a big draw for many Muslims who can’t get services in their home country. The other interesting shift is that the market for reproductive services is no longer limited to infertile couples. There’s now a big push for services by gay couples and single men and women. Some countries require marriage licenses to access reproductive technologies. The result is that non-married individuals and couples are pursuing these technologies in another country. Part Two of this conversation will be featured in the next issue of Medical Travel Today. About Marcia C. Inhorn Marcia C. Inhorn, Ph.D., MPH, is the William K. Lanman Jr., Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs in the Department of Anthropology and The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. She is the current and founding editor of the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies (JMEWS) and has served as director of the Council on Middle East Studies at Yale (2008-2011) and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan (2004-2006). She is one of seven medical anthropologists in Yale’s Department of Anthropology. A specialist on Middle Eastern gender, religion and health issues, Inhorn has conducted research on the social impact of infertility and assisted reproductive technologies in Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Arab America over the past 25 years.