More than 250 Australian kids were born in Greece with the method of IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) that Greek Australian doctor Kostas Pantos has adopted in the Clinic of the Human Reproduction “Genesis” in Athens.
Dr Pantos is a famous scientist whose innovations have many times occupied Australian and international press. Dr Pantos was born in Melbourne but went back to Greece with his parents when he was six years old. During the years of the Greek dictatorship, his family returned to Australia, where he stayed to attend college. After finalising his studies he returned to Greece where he now lives and works.
His studies and his good connections in Melbourne and Athens still help him work with many Australian institutes and scientists. Dr Pantos said to Neos Kosmos that many couples from Australia go to Greece with their own gene to take a foreign ovum because in many cases they haven’t found an appropriate one in Australia.
“The Australians also prefer coming to Greece,” said the scientist, “because in Australia the child by law can find out who his biological mother or father is after he/she turns 18. “Additionally, the donor has the right to have access to the child. In many cases neither the couples nor the donors feel uncomfortable with this arrangement. These regulations, though, do not apply in Greece. The donors are anonymous. As a result of this Greece became a popular country for Australian couples to become parents through the IVF method.”