The hospitals and gynecologists in Los Angeles are appreciated globally for their competent personnel of nurses and doctors that are ready for responding any emergency at any time for the infants that are likely to have a health problem from pregnancy to birth as well as for their fully equipped Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

UCLA Medical Center, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, St. Johns Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital located in Los Angeles are considered as the United States’ best hospitals. These hospitals use the latest technologies in the field of obstetrics and gynecology and give a high priority to patient satisfaction. Thus, they have designed their procedures to ensure that you have a pregnancy without problem and leave the hospital with pleasant memories.

Turkey is very developed in hair transplant and it draws considerable interest of foreign tourists for this aesthetic operation. According to the recent data on tourism, 60.000 people visited Turkey for hair transplant last year. There are many reasons that Turkey is preferred for this procedure.

The price for hair transplant in Turkey is much more reasonable than in the other countries. The lower price is not the only secret for Turkey’s success, because Turkey also holds the first position in hair transplant in terms of level of expertise and technological facilities. One of the most important reasons why Turkey is preferred for hair transplant is that methods used in Turkey reduces the healing process. Furthermore, Turkish surgeons conduct overseas research and contribute to various studies on hair transplant with the technology and advanced solutions they use.

The surrogacy is a method that is legally used in many countries across the world. There are many women in many countries that do surrogacy as a profession and earn money with this method. However, in a number of countries such as Turkey, only one of the relatives is allowed to be a surrogate mother in order to avoid this method to become a monetary instrument.

In Turkey, the mother of a child is considered a woman that has “given birth to” that child in accordance with Turkish law. According to applicable laws, whoever gives birth to a child shall be considered the mother of that child, regardless of the person or people having the sperms or eggs.

Countries where surrogacy is legal and average prices

Although many countries in the world provide surrogacy services, only limited number of countries implements surrogacy program under official state control after making a contract with the surrogate mother. It is very important to make a distinction here. When there is a problem with surrogacy that is widely used in the United Kingdom, Italy and many other European countries (for example, surrogate mothers do not want to give their child, or want more money to give their child, or choose to give out for adoption, etc.), such cases are referred to local courts and take long years as the government has no applicable laws in place for the surrogacy. During the period of such cases, persons that have given their fertilized embryos are separated from their own child for years, and could not obtain any rights in their biological child because sometimes the courts decide that the child belongs to the surrogate mother. This is a very difficult and psychologically devastating situation for anyone that longs for a child.

To avoid such unpleasant processes, it is very important to receive surrogacy services in the countries that has an official control over this service. In these countries, the individuals who want to have child through a surrogate mother make a contract with the potential surrogate mother that is legally binding upon either party. In case of a possible conflict, the government makes a decision based on that contract.

Countries where surrogacy service is officially provided under the governmental control:

• The United States of America,
• Ukraine,
• Cyprus,
• Georgia.

What makes these countries attractive is that surrogacy is legal and they have liberal laws. The couples that want to have a child are legally considered parents from the moment when pregnancy is initiated.

On the other hand, to allow a woman in Cyprus to use a surrogate mother in accordance with laws, it is required that woman has no uterus congenitally, or has had removed her uterus, or has congenital abnormalities in the uterus, or has a uterus that cannot be improved, or has a severe heart disease, or severe kidney failure, breast cancer, or has developed HELLP syndrome. Otherwise, the surrogacy will not be allowed. For example, women have tried to become pregnant but failed despite receiving in-vitro fertilization therapy, or gay couples, or individuals that want to be parent alone do not have the right to use this service pursuant to applicable laws.

Despite this, many people from Turkey unfortunately go to Cyprus to receive this service as it is legal, and embryo is transferred to the surrogate mother. But remember that these people do not have a governmental assurance in case of a conflict that occurs between them and the surrogate mother as they are not under the conditions limited by the laws of Cyprus. In case of a potential conflict, they cannot lay claim to the child pursuant to applicable laws. When considering this, it would be more reasonable to look at other countries where there is an official state control to receive surrogacy service for the individuals that want to have a child but do not comply with conditions set out in the laws of Cyprus.

Although the prices vary by countries, the average price is more than $100.000 in the USA, but it is reduced by two thirds and decreased to $30.000-$35.000 in the developing countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Cyprus.

Turkey provides services at more reasonable cost as compared to European countries as it uses the advanced technologies and higher quality of healthcare service in the field of dentistry. Thus, the patients have a nice vacation as well as receive treatment at reasonable cost.

The year 2018 has been a year when Turkey has achieved a major advantage over European countries in terms of prices for implant and zirconium teeth. As the value of foreign currency increases, the ability-to-pay of foreign patients has also been increased and now it is easier for them to pay for their dental treatment.

As a result of rapid development of medical tourism, the tourists that come to Istanbul see that total costs for accommodation, flight and dental treatment are less than the cost for dental treatment alone in any of the European countries.

Such interest of people in these operations causes medical sector to regard this area as a profitable area and make investments of billions of dollars every year. Many effective researches are conducted with such investment every year, the optimum training is provided to plastic surgeons and aestheticians working in the sector, and technologies are developed that allow to perform much more efficient, long-lasting operations with less pain. This sector extends to different arms in many areas and is expected to grow gradually as human continues to exist.

While the United States and Europe used to dominate the world market in plastic surgery and aesthetic operations both with their advanced technology and knowledgeable surgeons, several developing countries including Turkey have recognized the attractiveness of market especially over the last two decades, and they have made major improvements in this area. Today, these countries closely monitor the developments in plastic surgery and aesthetic operations in the United States and Europe in particular, and are very successful at doing a good job with the same quality. On top of it, such countries are able to offer very advantageous price options because their currency has a lower value than US Dollar. As such, many people in different countries choose to undergo operations in the developing countries that offer the same high quality but a cheaper price.

For example, while an aesthetic operation that is performed in the US costs approximately 50-60 thousand dollar, the cost for the same operation in Turkey can be reduced to one fifth of that cost. Especially, the service provided by well-known doctors with higher rate of success at plastic surgery and aesthetic operations in the recognized healthcare institutions is no different from that in the US, and even can be better than that in the US in some of the cases.

The individuals that wish to undergo a plastic surgery or aesthetic operation can have an opportunity to have a vacation in a new country as well as to undergo their desired operation. This is what makes such services more attractive to receive in those countries.

On the other hand, as in Turkey, many healthcare institutions specialized in these areas have recently tended to open branches in different regions such as Eastern Europe, Asia and Middle East, going beyond the borders of their country. This is because although there is a very high demand for plastic surgery and aesthetic operations in those regions, they lack knowledge and investment to meet such demand. However, the vision that is introduced by the globalization of the world paves the way for this.

The branches to be located at different countries will allow providing services more readily in different markets. For instance, while a European citizen will be able to receive service from a Turkish healthcare institution that has a branch in the Eastern Europe that is easier to access, relying on the assurance and standards provided by the European Union, a person in the Middle East will be able to easily receive the desired service from a local Turkish healthcare institution without bothering for obtaining a visa to Turkey and arranging a place to stay.

From the perspective of Turkey, many surgeons and aestheticians that are known and popular for their success receive some part of their education in the United States or Europe. These people participate in leading congresses conducted across the world each year and have an opportunity to follow the latest information and technologies as well as share their knowledge, take place in the international sector, write articles for major journals and publications, and contribute to global areas of plastic surgery and aesthetic operations. In this sense, it is good to say that Turkish doctors have a highly respectable place in the medical areas in the United States and Europe.

Today, many people in the different foreign countries come to Turkey for plastic surgery and aesthetic operations. The overseas strategical partnerships allow foreign people to hear about competitive advantage of Turkey in this area through word of mouth communication in addition to limited advertisement activities. Choosing Turkey by foreign people for these operations make substantial contributions to both Turkish economy and Turkish medical sector (and employees in the sector), making medical tourism more attractive for our country. Our desire is that this sector becomes more powerful and globally more challenging with government incentives and aids.

The air transportation is now cheaper across the world as compared to old times, it is more common to travel between countries, and it is easier to access information via internet; they all encourage many people in different location of the world to travel to the countries of which Turkey leads among them for medical purposes. When these people complete their operation and return to their country, they tell their friend about the successful outcomes of operation they have undergone, quality health care they have received (from healthcare professionals to quality of hospital and technological devices) and the safe and enjoyable times spent in the country, so they publicize the healthcare industry in such countries in the most effective way and contribute travel of more people to such countries every year for plastic surgery and aesthetic operations.

According to data of International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), the aesthetic operations showed growth by almost 200 percent in Turkey between 2011 and 2016. The number of aesthetic operations was 266146 in 2011, and increased to 789564 last year. This figures show that the first ten countries in aesthetic market in the world. Turkey’s position in this ranking is in the eighth place as coming before Germany and France.

AESTHETICS TOURISM IS GROWING
Not only Turkish people have these operations in Turkey. The foreign people also prefer Turkey more for aesthetic operations. According to data of Association of Private Hospitals and Healthcare Institutions, although Turkey’s income from tourism was reduced by 30 percent in 2016, the increase in income from medical tourism was 5 percent.

The medical tourism is divided into three groups: thermal spring, aesthetics-cosmetics and medical tourism. The highest increase among these items was in the aesthetics-cosmetics in 2016. In fact, Turkey is included in the top 10 countries in the world that perform the highest number of aesthetic operations. The number of patients that came to Turkey for medical tourism in 2010 was 110 thousand, today it is over 600 thousand.

The figures above show that the major demand of tourists that come for plastic surgery is filling and toxin applications that are not a surgical procedure. The most demanded surgical procedures include breast augmentation, liposuction, hair transplant and facial lifting.

The higher number of aesthetic operations performed in Turkey has taken success of Turkish doctors out of borders of Turkey. The number of plastic surgeons in Turkey has also significantly increased over the last five years. The number of plastic surgeons was 509 in 2011, and reached to 1200 in 2016.

HIGH QUALITY AND PRICE ADVANTAGE

An important reason for increase in the number of foreign patients is the price advantage. The diagnosis, treatment and surgical interventions are performed with the same techniques and technological devices as used by the developed countries. Despite this, other countries require quite higher prices as compared to Turkey.

The aesthetic tourism is growing every year when Turkey’s price advantage is combined with the quality of service provided and patient satisfaction. As a result, thousands of patients come to Turkey to receive treatment every year from many countries including Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Finland, Iraq, Bulgaria, Algeria, TRNC, Kuwait, Libya, Egypt, Russia, Turkmenistan, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and Syria.

The eggs can be frozen in case of reduced ovarian reserve and in cases especially where there are elevated levels of hormones stimulating the ovaries despite at younger ages, or in case of history of certain diseases. In the egg freezing process, the eggs that are frozen at a younger age are not affected by the aging of woman, and they are thawed when required and very likely to achieve a pregnancy with in-vitro fertilization procedure.

There has recently been a significant increase in the number of cancer cases in the world and in Turkey. The early diagnosis and treatment allow large number of patients to completely recover and maintain their life as healthy as they used to be. However, the heavy drugs used for the cancer therapy may cause severe damage to both egg cells of women and sperm cells of men. The egg freezing and sperm freezing procedure enable women or men with cancer to reserve their right to have a child by using their own stored cells after they recover.

In the in-vitro fertilization, sperm freezing has been successfully used for long years. The egg freezing and embryo freezing have also given quite successful results especially in the last years. It is possible to achieve a healthy pregnancy even after years of freezing procedure. No adverse effects have been observed on the babies in the pregnancies achieved with frozen cells.