IVF Laws by Country: What Is Legal Where You Are Thinking of Traveling

There is no single “IVF law” — every country writes four separate rules: who may access treatment (married couples only, or also single women and same-sex couples), whether donor eggs and sperm are allowed, whether surrogacy is legal, and whether embryos can be genetically tested (PGT). Those four answers change completely depending on where you fly.

This table-based guide was compiled by the ProIVF Medical Editorial Team from the 2024 ESHRE/ISCMART legal survey of 43 countries, enacted statutes with their dates, and clinic-level practice data, then reviewed by the ProIVF Medical Advisory Board.

Who can legally get IVF — and who cannot?

In Europe, 39 of 43 surveyed countries (91%) have ART-specific legislation, and 8 restrict access to infertile couples only — excluding single women and same-sex couples entirely (Hum Reprod 2024).

Across those 43 countries, 33 offer treatment to single women (77%) and 19 offer treatment to female couples (44%). The professional bodies disagree with the map: ASRM’s ethics committee states that programs “should treat all requests for assisted reproduction equally without regard to marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity” (Fertil Steril 2021;116:326-30).

“Programs should treat all requests for assisted reproduction equally without regard to marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” — ASRM Ethics Committee Opinion, Fertility and Sterility, 2021

Outside Europe the pattern repeats with different borders. France opened IVF to single women and lesbian couples with its 2021 bioethics law. China’s public clinics still require an infertility diagnosis tied to a marriage certificate under the 2001 Administrative Measures and 2003 technical standards, so single women are effectively excluded from domestic ART. Thailand’s 2023 regulatory update explicitly permits egg freezing and ART for single women. In the United States there is no federal standard — access is set state by state and clinic by clinic, and California’s SB 729 (effective for contracts from 1 July 2025) is the most-quoted example of a coverage mandate written explicitly to include single and LGBTQ+ patients. Our lesbian IVF guide walks through the destination-by-destination route.

Is egg or sperm donation legal?

Donation is the most-permitted piece of the puzzle — but not universally. In the 43-country survey, donated sperm is allowed in all but two countries, oocyte (egg) donation in 38 (88%), simultaneous sperm-and-egg donation in 32, and embryo donation in 29.

Germany and Italy sit on the restrictive side of egg donation history: Germany’s Embryo Protection Act of 1990 still makes egg donation a criminal offense (treatment with donated eggs performed abroad is not punished, which is why “baby trains” to Spain persisted). Italy legalized egg donation only in 2004 under Law 40, then progressively loosened it through court rulings.

Spain’s framework since Law 14/2006 allows anonymous donation with compensation to donors capped by regulation, and clinics must keep traceability records — in practice the national registry remains incomplete, a fact donor-conceived adults increasingly litigate over.

For China, the 2003 technical standards permit only altruistic donation from surplus eggs of other IVF patients — which is precisely why the supply is near zero and waiting lists stretch years; the practical consequence for Chinese patients is that donor-egg treatment happens abroad.

Anonymity itself is disappearing across Europe: the UK ended donor anonymity on 7 April 2005 (donor-conceived people can request identifying information at 16), Sweden did the same in 2002, the Netherlands in 2009, and France’s 2021 law lifted anonymity for all future donors. 12 European countries cap how many children one donor may create — the UK limit is 10 families.

Where is surrogacy legal?

Surrogacy is the exception, not the rule: only 15 of 43 surveyed European countries (35%) accept it (ESHRE survey, Hum Reprod 2024).

The legal map splits into four bands:

• Commercial surrogacy legal for all comers: parts of the USA — California, Nevada, Illinois and Colorado-friendly practice, with enforceable pre-birth parentage orders; several Ukrainian and Georgian clinics historically served foreigners (both now constrained by war or policy).
• Altruistic-only with court approval: the UK (payments capped at “reasonable expenses,” parentage transferred by parental order), Canada (Assisted Human Reproduction Act 2004, expense reimbursement legalized in 2019), Greece (Law 3087/2002 with prior judicial authorization), Australia (state-by-state, altruistic only).
• Explicitly banned: China (administrative ban on surrogacy services since 2001, reinforced by clinic-licensing rules), France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway.
• Newly criminalized with extraterritorial reach: Italy’s Law 169 of 4 November 2024 makes arranging surrogacy a crime even when performed abroad if one member of the intending couple is Italian — the first Western state to project its ban across borders (J Assist Reprod Genet 2025).

FIGO’s 2025 position statement argues for protection-first regulation rather than prohibition, citing exploitation risk in unregulated markets (Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2025). For intended parents the practical rule is simple: the country where the contract is signed governs your parenthood, and the country you fly home to governs whether you face prosecution. Those two are frequently not the same, and the mismatch is where legal counsel — not clinic brochures — earns its fee.

Is PGT-A embryo screening allowed?

Genetic screening splits Europe almost evenly: PGT for single-gene disorders (PGT-M/SR) is not allowed in only 3 countries, but PGT-A screening for aneuploidy is not allowed in 10 (23%) of the 43 surveyed.

Where PGT-A is banned or tightly constrained, the stated reasons cluster around embryo selection ethics rather than lab safety. Switzerland illustrates the direction of travel: voters approved relaxing the constitutional ban on preimplantation genetic testing in 2023, and PGT for serious hereditary disease became available from 2025. Austria, Italy and Germany have each oscillated between constitutional-court liberalization and legislative caution over the past two decades.

For planning purposes, most destination clinics in Spain, Greece, Thailand, Malaysia and the Czech Republic offer PGT-A routinely — the constraint patients actually hit is not legality but whether the lab holds accreditation; see PGT genetic screening.

What changed in 2024–2025?

Five moves reshaped the map in the last two years:

• Italy (Nov 2024): criminalized surrogacy worldwide for its citizens, with prison terms and heavy fines for intermediaries — pushing intended parents toward legal-risk counseling, not just clinic booking.
• France (fully in force 2022–2024): ART reimbursed by national insurance for single women and female couples, up to the legal age limits; a national donor information body now fields offspring identity requests for post-2022 conceptions.
• Switzerland (2025): PGT against serious genetic disease permitted in practice after the 2023 vote.
• Thailand (2023–2024): fertility-services regulation updated to explicitly admit single women, consolidating its position as Southeast Asia’s most access-open destination.
• China (2023–2024): several provinces folded partial ART costs into medical insurance reimbursement from 2024 onward — a coverage change, not an access change; marriage-linked eligibility still applies.

These dates are exactly the kind that shift, which is why every section above names the statute or survey rather than folklore. Treat this page as a decision framework; confirm the live rules with the clinic and an independent lawyer before signing anything.

The quick-reference table

⚠️ Rows summarize the dominant rule, not every province, state or clinic policy; “de facto tolerated” and “varies by clinic” mark exactly the cells where you must verify in writing before booking. Costs, legal or not, are tracked in our IVF cost guide.

Three trips, three legal reasons

The accounts below are illustrative composites drawn from common scenarios shared with our team; names, faces and identifying details have been changed, and no real patient or couple is depicted.

Yuki, 38, single — egg freezing, Bangkok. Her country’s clinic network would not freeze eggs for an unmarried woman, so she flew to a Bangkok clinic that operates under Thailand’s 2023 single-welcome rules. Two stimulation cycles, ≈ US$11,000 including medications, 16 mature eggs vitrified. “The law at home said my family status was a diagnosis. Here it was a paperwork detail — that difference cost me one plane ticket and bought me four years of options.”

Anna & Marta, 34 and 36 — donor-sperm IVF, Barcelona. Married in the EU but their home country refused ART to female couples, they completed two donor-sperm IUI failures and one IVF in Spain (≈ €9,600 for retrieval, ICSI and two transfers), and returned with two cryopreserved embryos. Spanish clinic paperwork listed both mothers for the Spanish birth record; parentage in their home country still required a second-step adoption. “Ranking countries by law, not by clinic luxury, was the whole project. Our daughter was born healthy — the paperwork trail took one more year.”

Hannah, 35, no uterus — gestational carrier, Toronto. After two cesarean complications removed her uterus, a Canadian agency matched an altruistic carrier (≈ CA$12,000 in reimbursed expenses plus ≈ CA$28,000 medical and legal fees). Pre-parentage order granted at 16 weeks under provincial law. “Altruistic-only sounds restrictive until you meet the carriers. They are not paid to be mothers; they are reimbursed to be surgeons’ patients. The law made our arrangement cleaner, not impossible.”

FAQ

Q: Which countries allow IVF for single women?

In Europe, 33 of 43 surveyed countries treat single women legally, and Thailand (2023), Canada, most US states, Spain, the UK, Australia and South Africa accept them outside Europe. China, Italy’s original Law 40 framework and most Malaysian public services do not — always confirm the clinic’s written policy, not the national headline.

Q: Is IVF illegal anywhere?

Rarely as a blanket ban, but close to it for specific populations: 8 of 43 European countries still restrict treatment to infertile couples, Italy’s original Law 40 confined it to married or cohabiting couples, single women cannot access public ART in China, and Islamic-fatwa-governed systems in Malaysia bar non-married patients and most third-party donation. No major destination tourism market bans IVF outright — the restrictions hide inside eligibility rules.

Q: Which is stricter, egg donation or surrogacy law?

Surrogacy, decisively. Egg donation is legal in 38 of 43 surveyed European countries; surrogacy is accepted in 15, and Italy now criminalizes its citizens arranging it anywhere in the world.

Donation only becomes legally hard where anonymity ends and donor-conceived offspring can identify donors at 16–18, as in the UK, Sweden, Netherlands and post-2022 France.

Q: Does PGT-A require different legal permission than IVF?

Yes. PGT-A is separately restricted in 10 of 43 European countries even where IVF itself is routine, while PGT-M (single-gene disease) is banned in only 3.

Destinations like Spain, Thailand, Greece and the Czech Republic permit PGT-A broadly, so a plan that includes screening may change your country shortlist.

Q: Can I get treated abroad for something illegal at home?

Usually the treatment itself is lawful where performed — the risk concentrates on the return: birth certificates, parentage recognition and citizenship for donor-conceived or carrier-born children. Germany punishes doctors at home for egg donation but has prosecuted neither patients nor foreign clinics.

Italy’s 2024 law is the exception that does reach you, because it criminalizes the arrangement even abroad.

Q: What changed most recently that guides still get wrong?

Three items get stale fastest: France’s opening to single women (2021 law, reimbursement fully operational 2022–2024), Thailand’s 2023 single-women rules, and Italy’s November 2024 extraterritorial surrogacy ban. Any guide written before 2024 predates all three.

Q: Do clinics show proof they are licensed?

Ask for two numbers: the clinic’s national ART-programme license or registry identifier and its last audited outcome year — national ART registries now exist in 33 of 43 European countries (Hum Reprod 2024), so a refusal to cite a registry entry is itself an answer.

How to use this table

Turn your diagnosis into the two legal questions it actually raises — gametes needed or not, carrier needed or not, screening needed or not — then filter countries on those rows before you ever compare prices. Our hospital directory marks each listed clinic’s country, license status and services, and the contact page connects you with the ProIVF team who will check the current rule for your exact nationality-marital-status combination, which is where the edge cases live.

If the medical side is still unsettled, read infertility vs. sterility first — which treatment you are legally searching for depends on which diagnosis applies.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not legal or medical advice. Reproductive law changes quickly, is interpreted by courts as well as written by legislatures, and differs by state, province and clinic within countries named the same. Verify current rules with a licensed reproductive lawyer in both the treatment country and your home country before contracting.

This article was written by the ProIVF Medical Editorial Team and reviewed by the ProIVF Medical Advisory Board. It draws on the 2024 ESHRE/ISCMART European ART legislation survey, enacted statutes cited by number and date in each section, and reference material from the HFEA and ASRM.

Last updated: October 11, 2026