Volume 6, Issue 6

by Amanda Haar, Editor Greetings, I learned a new term this week: Cross Border Reproductive Care (CBRC). It’s a handy term as it’s broad enough to cover care delivered anywhere in the world, and also encompasses all types of reproductive care – from surrogacy and egg donation to in-vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). I have Marcia Inhorn of Yale University, a leading expert in the field, to thank for teaching me the term and for sharing a great deal of insight into this unique area of medical travel. Through our conversation, Part One of which is featured in this week’s issue, I came to appreciate how this sector is influenced not only by need, cost and geography, but also by the dominating ethics and regulations of individual countries. As far as I know, it’s the only type of care delivery that has been altered by a ruling of the Roman Catholic Church. This week I also had the opportunity to speak with Sebastian Viramontes of Hospital San José Tec de Monterrey in Mexico. He shared with me how the institution’s medical travel efforts have evolved over time and what they’re doing to overcome concerns regarding violence in the region. That interview is featured below. As always, we welcome your comments, story ideas and press releases. Cheers, Amanda Haar, Editor [email protected]