California Emerges as Destination for Reproductive Services
A few thousand people annually travel to California to access reproductive technology services in part because of the state's "abundance of good fertility clinics and laissez-faire attitude toward the technology," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The state has about 50 fertility clinics, a competitive market for donor eggs, agencies that will arrange surrogacy agreements, and judicial precedents that protect the parental rights of people who contract for egg donation and surrogacy.
By contrast, some countries ban in vitro fertilization outright, and others limit the availability of the procedure, in some cases only to married couples. In addition, "[a]lmost all" countries ban surrogacy, according to the Chronicle.
Infertile couples and gay and lesbian couples from countries that restrict the use of reproductive technology are using the Internet to search for clinics that will provide the services, and some clinics have begun targeting advertisements at these groups (Barnum, San Francisco Chronicle, 8/15).