Implementing a good practice guide for CBRC: perspectives from the ESHRE Cross-Border Reproductive Care Taskforce

This article sets out views about cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) from the point of view of a professional clinicians’ group. After publishing the first international European dataset measuring the phenomenon of CBRC in six European countries in June 2010, the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Taskforce on CBRC set out to write a good practice guide, which aims at advising clinicians and professionals dealing with patients interested in seeking fertility treatment outside their country of residence. The background, outline and possible means of implementation of this guide are discussed here. The aims of the guide are to ensure quality of care and safety for all concerned, from patients to their future offspring, via gamete donors and surrogates if involved. Patient centredness is also an important aspect, as well as fair treatment of all parties, based on appropriate and intelligible information.This article sets out views about cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) from the point of view of a professional clinicians’ group. The author is a clinician and academic in a teaching hospital in London, and co-ordinates the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) CBRC Taskforce. The taskforce published the first international European dataset measuring the phenomenon of CBRC in six European countries in June 2010, and then set out to write a good practice guide, which aims at advising clinicians and professionals dealing with patients interested in seeking fertility treatment outside their country of residence. This article discusses the guide’s background and genesis and explains the content. The aims of the guide are to ensure quality of care and safety for all concerned, from patients to their future offspring, via gamete donors and surrogates if involved. Patient centeredness is also an important aspect, as well as fair treatment of all parties, based on appropriate and intelligible information. Finally the guide also outlines how it is hoped the described principles may be disseminated and applied for all the stakeholders benefit.