Medical Tourism and the Egress of Economic Depression: The Case of Assisted Reproduction Services in Greece

Abstract

While the international literature has examined how the domestic population growth and domestic fertility rates affect economic growth, there is no research about how the foreign fertility rates can affect the domestic economic growth. The bridge on foreign fertility rates and domestic economic growth is the assisted reproductive health services provided through the market of medical tourism. Libertarian legal frameworks may attract health travelers for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and contribute to GDP growth from the side of the tourism industry. The present paper discusses this point of view as a vehicle for depressed economies such as Greece that enjoys a high expertise in IVF and tourism. A simplistic attempt of the potential turnover to the clinics is presented by estimating the future medically assisted births. The results give a clue of how a dynamic part of medical tourism can result beneficially for the exodus of economic depression.