Principles of establishment of the First International Forum on Cross-Border Reproductive Care.

OBJECTIVE

To discuss the implications of increased cross-border reproductive care and the impetus for the establishment of the First International Forum on Cross-Border Reproductive Care.

SETTING

Ottawa, Canada, January 14-16, 2009.

CONCLUSION(S): The increased use of assisted reproductive techniques, coupled with factors such as the advent of its regulation in some countries, has led to an increase in the number of patients crossing borders to seek fertility treatment. A panel of international experts was gathered to address the issues of safety and efficacy for the travelling assisted reproductive techniques patient, and several common concerns were raised. The Forum participants recommended greater levels of education for patients and care providers in the form of Prompters, which, at the least, would provide both parties with relevant questions to ask of local and foreign care centers. It is clear from the discussions held at the Forum and detailed in this supplemental issue of Fertility and Sterility that cross-border reproductive care is a complicated phenomenon that requires international cooperation and continued dialogue between involved parties.