For Emilie and Justin Solomon, a summer trip to Greece in 2024 looked like any other jet setting vacation to their friends and family. In reality, the couple was operating on a top secret mission, turning off their phone locations to hide visits to a fertility clinic in Athens. After being quoted 40,000 dollars for a single round of in vitro fertilization in their home state of Florida, the Solomons decided that traveling across the Atlantic was the only viable way to afford their dream of starting a biological family.
The Solomons are part of a rapidly growing trend of Americans seeking reproductive care abroad. According to Jakub Dejewski, chair of the European Fertility Society, there was a more than 37 percent increase last year in Americans choosing European clinics. Many are drawn to countries like Greece and Spain where treatments are significantly cheaper and often more accessible. For the Solomons, the entire process in Greece cost roughly 12,000 dollars including medication and storage, a mere fraction of the price tag they faced in the United States. Beyond the financial relief, the couple found solace in mixing their medical appointments with tourism, spending weekends exploring Croatian coasts and Greek islands to cope with the emotional toll of infertility.
The drive toward medical tourism is fueled by a stark gap in U.S. healthcare coverage. While nearly seven million people in the U.S. struggle with infertility, only about 24 percent have their treatment needs met due to prohibitive costs and limited insurance options. Recent data suggests that a full IVF conceived birth can exceed 54,000 dollars when accounting for genetic testing and pregnancy care, representing over a third of the median annual household income for many families. This financial burden is compounded by a 90 percent rise in IVF medication costs over the last decade.
Efforts to address these costs at a federal level have seen mixed results. The Trump administration has prioritized fertility coverage as part of its agenda, proposing rules to encourage employers to provide benefits and launching TrumpRx to offer discounts on certain medications. However, critics argue these savings are small compared to the overall expense of multiple cycles required for success. For couples like the Solomons, who also feared restrictive personhood legislation in Florida might threaten their control over embryos, fleeing to Europe offered both financial survival and peace of mind.
