Fertility Laws in Europe: Country-by-Country
Last updated: December 2025
Every European country has different fertility laws. What’s legal in Spain is illegal in Germany. What Greece allows at 54, Norway bans after 46. This page covers the actual legislation, not clinic marketing material.
Last updated: March 2026. Laws change. Always verify with official sources before making decisions.
Quick Comparison
| Country | Egg Donation | Surrogacy | Single Women | Same-sex F | Max Age | Key Law |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | Yes (anonymous) | No | Yes | Yes | No legal limit | Ley 14/2006 |
| Czech Republic | Yes (anonymous) | Grey area | Disputed | No | 49 | Act 373/2011 |
| Greece | Yes (anonymous) | Yes (altruistic) | Yes | No | 54 | Law 3305/2005 |
| Germany | No | No | Limited | Limited | None (Kasse: 40) | ESchG 1990 |
| Switzerland | No | No | No | Limited | None (practice: ~43) | FMedG 2001 |
| Austria | Yes (since 2015) | No | No (until 2027) | Yes | 45 (recipient) | FMedG 1992/2015 |
| Portugal | Yes (non-anon) | Restricted | Yes | Yes | 50 | Lei 32/2006 |
| Denmark | Yes (donor chooses) | No | Yes | Yes | 46 | Assisted Repro Act |
| UK | Yes (non-anon) | Yes (altruistic) | Yes | Yes | None (NICE: 42) | HFE Act 1990/2008 |
| France | Yes (non-anon since 2021) | No | Yes (since 2021) | Yes (since 2021) | 43/45 | Loi bioéthique 2021 |
| Belgium | Yes (reform pending) | Grey area | Yes | Yes | 47 (transfer) | Law 6 July 2007 |
| Italy | Yes (since 2014) | No | No | No | ~43-46 | Legge 40/2004 |
| Netherlands | Yes (non-anon) | Yes (altruistic) | Yes | Yes | ~43-45 | Embryowet 2002 |
| Sweden | No | No | Yes (since 2016) | Yes | ~40 (funded) | SFS 2006:351 |
| Norway | Yes (since 2021) | No | Yes (own eggs only) | Yes | 46 | Bioteknologiloven |
| Finland | Yes (non-anon) | No | Yes | Yes | ~40-47 | Act 1237/2006 |
| Poland | Yes (anonymous) | No | No | No | ~42 (funded) | Act of 25 June 2015 |
| Turkey | No | No | No | No | ~45-46 | Regulation 2010 |
Egg Donation
The single biggest legal dividing line in European fertility. If you need donor eggs, your country options narrow fast.
Legal and anonymous: Spain, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland. Anonymous donation attracts more donors, which means shorter waiting lists. Spain has the largest donor pool in Europe.
Legal but non-anonymous: UK, Portugal, Denmark (donor chooses), Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France (since 2021), Belgium (reforming). Non-anonymous means the donor-conceived child can request the donor’s identity at age 16-18.
Illegal: Germany, Switzerland, Turkey. Germany’s Embryonenschutzgesetz (1990) bans egg donation outright. Switzerland has a reform proposal expected by end of 2026 that may legalise it. ~30,000 Germans travel abroad annually for fertility treatment, largely for this reason (Shenfield et al., Human Reproduction, 2010).
Sources: ESHRE EIM Survey on ART (2020, 2024); IFFS Surveillance 2022; European Atlas of Fertility Treatment Policies 2024; individual country legislation cited per section above.
Surrogacy
Rare in Europe. Only three countries have a legal framework:
Greece. Altruistic surrogacy with court approval. Medical necessity required. Surrogate must be under 54, must have at least one child, no genetic connection to the baby. Total cost including all fees: approximately €30,000-50,000. (Law 3305/2005, amended by Law 4958/2022)
UK. Altruistic only. No specific surrogacy statute, governed by Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985. Commercial surrogacy prohibited. Legal parentage requires a parental order after birth. (HFE Act 2008)
Netherlands. Altruistic, tolerated but not explicitly regulated until a new bill introduced July 2023. Available at approved centres under strict conditions. Surrogate max age 45.
Belgium, Not regulated by statute but practiced at university hospitals (UZ Ghent, UZ Brussel) under hospital ethics committee protocols.
Everywhere else: Illegal. Italy went further in November 2024, criminalising Italian nationals who arrange surrogacy abroad (extraterritorial law).
Sources: European Parliament briefing on surrogacy law (2025); Karpouzis Lianou Law. Greece surrogacy framework; Library of Congress: Netherlands surrogacy bill 2023.
IVF Age Limits
| Country | Own Eggs | Donor Eggs | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | 50 | 54 | Law 4958/2022 |
| Portugal | 50 | 50 | Lei 32/2006 |
| Czech Republic | 49 | 49 | Act 373/2011 |
| Belgium | 43 (retrieval) | 47 (transfer) | Law 6 July 2007 |
| Denmark | 46 | 46 | Assisted Repro Act |
| Norway | 46 | 46 | Bioteknologiloven |
| France | 43 (retrieval), 45 (transfer) | 45 (transfer) | Loi bioéthique 2021 |
| Austria | 45 (recipient) | 45 | FMedG 2015 |
| UK | No legal limit | No legal limit | NICE recommends up to 42 |
| Spain | No legal limit | No legal limit | Public system: 40/50 |
| Germany | No legal limit | N/A | Kasse covers 25-40 |
| Switzerland | No legal limit | N/A | Practice: ~43 |
| Turkey | No legal limit | N/A | Practice: ~45-46 |
Greece has the highest statutory age limit in Europe at 54 for donor egg IVF (with additional medical authorisation required for women 50-54).
Single Women and Same-Sex Couples
Full access for single women and same-sex female couples: Spain, Portugal, Denmark, UK, France (since 2021), Belgium, Finland, Sweden (single women since 2016), Netherlands.
Partial or restricted access: Germany (varies by state and professional guidelines), Switzerland (married same-sex female couples can access sperm donation since 2022, but egg donation is illegal), Norway (single women can access treatment but only with own eggs + donor sperm), Austria (same-sex female couples yes, single women no, but Constitutional Court ruled this must change by March 2027).
No access for single women or same-sex couples: Czech Republic (disputed for single women), Italy, Poland, Turkey.
Same-sex male couples have very limited options in Europe since surrogacy is illegal in most countries. The UK, Belgium, and Netherlands are the only countries where male same-sex couples can pursue surrogacy through regulated channels.
PGT-A (Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy)
Allowed: Spain, Czech Republic, Greece, UK, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Turkey, Switzerland (since 2017, restricted to women 38+ or after multiple failures), Portugal.
Not allowed: Germany (PGT-M allowed for serious conditions, but PGT-A is not permitted), France, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Austria.
A 2025 RCT published in Nature Medicine found that ICSI offered no advantage over conventional IVF in the absence of male factor infertility. Relevant because ICSI is used in two-thirds of European ART cycles, often unnecessarily.
Embryo Transfer Limits
Most European countries have moved toward single embryo transfer (SET) policies to reduce multiple pregnancy rates:
- Strict SET: Sweden (typically 1), Belgium (mandatory 1 for first cycle under 36)
- Guideline-based: UK (HFEA: 1 for under 37, max 2 for 37-39, max 2-3 for 40+), Netherlands (1 for first two cycles under 38)
- Legal maximums: Spain and Germany (3), Czech Republic (2), France (2)
- No legal limit: Italy (since 2009 Constitutional Court ruling struck down the previous limit of 3)
Changes Coming
Several countries are actively reforming their fertility laws:
- Switzerland: Egg donation legalisation reform expected by end of 2026
- Austria: Constitutional Court ruled the ban on single women accessing treatment must end by March 2027
- Belgium: Donor anonymity reform underway (Fertidata register launched 2024)
- Germany: Expert commission recommended legalising egg donation in 2024 report
- Denmark: 2025 legislative agreement to simplify parenthood recognition for surrogacy abroad
Sources
- European Atlas of Fertility Treatment Policies 2024. fertilityeurope.eu/atlas2024
- ESHRE EIM Survey on ART and IUI (2020). PMC
- ESHRE EIM Survey Update (2024). PMC
- IFFS Surveillance 2022. iffsreproduction.org
- European Parliament. Surrogacy: The Legal Situation in the EU (2025): europarl.europa.eu
- Shenfield et al. 2010, “Cross border reproductive care in six European countries,” Human Reproduction 25(6):1361-68
- Individual country legislation cited in each section above
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