Cross-border Reproductive Services in the Czech Republic:

An Exploration of Institutional Factors that Generate Reproductive Markets

Abstract

　Advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART) have intertwined economic disparity and institutional differences among countries, generating a global reproductive market. Infertile couples and individuals, or gamete providers and gestational carriers, cross a border for reproductive services. The Czech Republic is one of the hubs of this phenomenon, “cross-border reproductive services (CBRS),” in today’s Europe.

　This article attempts to further the empirical understanding of CBRS in Czechia by analyzing institutional factors such as (1) the regulatory framework, (2) access to reproductive medicine, and (3) the cost of reproductive services. In conclusion, this research elucidates that (1) laws and professional guidelines are not so strict that various reproductive technologies like surrogacy are not prohibited, (2) accessibility of reproductive medicine is high enough, and (3) the cost of reproductive services is relatively low for infertile couples from Western Europe and the rewards is substantial for surrogates from Eastern Europe. The interaction among three factors makes the Czech Republic a host country of CBRS, to which clients and surrogates cross a border respectively from Western Europe and Eastern Europe.