Egg Donation Laws in Europe: Anonymous, Non-Anonymous, and Everything In Between

Last updated: February 2026

Egg donation is legal in 15 European countries and banned in 3. The legal details vary wildly: Spain guarantees lifetime donor anonymity under a 2006 law, while the UK has required identity disclosure since 2005. Germany bans the procedure entirely under a 1990 statute that also hasn’t been updated since reunification. Donor compensation ranges from nothing (France, Netherlands) to 11 weeks of minimum wage (Bulgaria).

If you need donor eggs, the legal framework of the country you choose affects everything: how long you wait, what your child can know about the donor, and what you pay.

Last updated: March 2026. Laws change. Verify with official sources before making decisions. See our main fertility laws overview for the full picture across all treatment types.

The Map

Where It’s Legal

Anonymous Donation Countries

Four countries guarantee donor anonymity by law. The donor’s identity is never disclosed to the recipient or the child. These countries tend to attract more donors (lower barrier to participation) and have shorter waiting lists as a result.

Spain is the largest egg donation market in Europe and the most popular fertility tourism destination on the continent. Ley 14/2006, de 26 de mayo, sobre Técnicas de Reproducción Humana Asistida governs all assisted reproduction. Donation is anonymous, voluntary, and altruistic. Donors receive €800-1,000 per cycle as compensation for time, travel, and inconvenience, capped by the Ministry of Health (Clínica Tambre, 2025; Civio, 2022). Each donor may contribute to a maximum of 6 live births in Spain (Vida Fertility). Donor identity may only be disclosed in “extraordinary circumstances of proven danger to the life of the child” (Instituto Bernabeu). Donors must be 18-35 years old.

Czech Republic has built its reputation on fertility tourism and is the second most popular destination for cross-border patients in Europe. Act No. 373/2011 Coll. on Specific Health Services permits fully anonymous egg donation (PRONATAL). Records are kept for 30 years but are not accessible to offspring. Donors are 18-35 and compensated €800-1,300 per cycle; amounts are set by clinics, not statute. Phenotypic matching between donor and recipient is required by law.

Poland allows anonymous egg donation under the Act of 25 June 2015 on Infertility Treatment, effective 1 November 2015. Access is restricted to heterosexual couples, married or cohabiting. Donors are phenotype-matched to recipients. Compensation is limited to expense reimbursement (INVICTA).

Bulgaria permits anonymous donation. Donors must be under 34. Compensation is fixed at the equivalent of approximately 11 weeks of minimum wage, the highest proportion of minimum wage in Europe (Civio, 2022).

Non-Anonymous (Identity-Release) Countries

These countries require that donor-conceived children can access the donor’s identifying information, usually at age 18. The policy rationale: the child’s right to know their genetic origins outweighs the donor’s expectation of privacy. The practical effect: fewer people volunteer to donate, which means longer waiting lists. The philosophical debate is real. The waiting list consequences are also real.

UK. The HFEA Disclosure of Donor Information Regulations 2004 took effect on 1 April 2005. Donor-conceived individuals access non-identifying information from age 16, identifying information (name, date of birth, last known address) from age 18 (HFEA). Donors receive up to £985 per cycle, raised from £750 on 1 October 2024, the first increase since 2011 (HFEA; PET). The result: 6-month to 2-3-year waiting times for donor eggs, varying by region and ethnicity matching requirements. That wait is exactly why UK patients are the largest group of fertility tourists in Europe.

Austria banned egg donation for 23 years (1992-2015). The FMedRÄG 2015 amendment legalized it with some of the strictest guardrails on the continent: donors must be 18-30, recipients under 45, and children can access donor identity from age 14, the youngest disclosure age in Europe (PMC; Wunschkind.at). Compensation: expense reimbursement only (Civio, 2022).

The Nordics follow a similar pattern. Sweden pioneered donor identity rights in 1985 for sperm donation (the first country in the world to do so) and applied the same framework when legalizing egg donation in 2003 under the Genetic Integrity Act (SFS 2006:351) (PMC). Norway legalized egg donation only in 2021 after amending the Biotechnology Act, with identity-release required and simultaneous egg and sperm donation (double donation) not allowed; donors must be 25-35 (DLA Piper). Finland’s Act 1237/2006 allows egg donation with identity release at 18 via a state register, but donor compensation is approximately €250 per cycle, the lowest in Europe (Springer; Civio, 2022). At €250, Finland is essentially asking women to undergo a medical procedure involving hormone injections and egg retrieval for the cost of a nice dinner.

The Netherlands requires identity-release donation under the Donor Data Act (2004). Children access donor identity at adulthood (Government.nl). Portugal originally permitted anonymous donation under Lei 32/2006, but a 2018 Constitutional Court decision changed this: children can now access donor identity at age 18.

Mixed Systems

Denmark lets the donor choose: anonymous, open-ID (identity available at 18), or known donor. The recipient selects their preference. This has been the system since 2012 (Donor Offspring Europe).

Greece. Law 4958/2022 expanded options from strictly anonymous to include open-ID and identity-release at 18. Donors now choose their disclosure level (Ovagenesis). Donor compensation: up to €1,400 total (€600 travel + €800 for time off work), capped by Law 3305/2005 (Invitra).

Belgium currently defaults to anonymous donation under the Law of 6 July 2007, with known donation available by mutual agreement (Brussels IVF). This is changing: in February 2026, the federal cabinet approved plans to abolish compulsory donor anonymity. Under the new framework, children access non-identifying info at 12 and identifying info at 16. Existing donors will be contacted but cannot be forced to retroactively waive anonymity. A six-month transition period applies (PET; Belga News Agency).

Italy. Egg donation was banned under Legge 40/2004 until the Constitutional Court declared the ban unconstitutional in Ruling No. 162/2014, finding it violated fundamental rights to health and self-determination (ScienceDirect). Donation has been legal since, but detailed regulations on anonymity vary in practice. Donor compensation is prohibited entirely (Civio, 2022).

France: The Big Transition

France ended anonymous gamete donation on March 31, 2025. The Loi n° 2021-1017 du 2 août 2021 relative à la bioéthique requires that donors consent to identity disclosure to donor-conceived children at age 18.

The transition period ran from September 2022 to March 2025. At the end of 2022, over 100,000 anonymized sperm straws were in stock. By December 2024, fewer than 30,000 remained. New consenting-donor stocks exceeded 100,000 by December 2024. On March 6, 2025, the Ministry of Health clarified that embryos created from anonymous gametes would be preserved (not destroyed), but anonymous-donor gametes themselves would no longer be used after the deadline.

The CAPADD commission, which processes donor identity requests from donor-conceived individuals, had received 701 admissible applications by January 31, 2025 (Agence de la biomédecine).

Where It’s Banned

Germany. Section 1, Paragraph 1 of the Embryonenschutzgesetz (Embryo Protection Act, 13 December 1990) makes it a criminal offence to transfer a foreign unfertilized egg cell to a woman. Penalty: up to three years imprisonment or a fine. The law targets medical personnel, not the donor or recipient (German Federal Ministry of Health, English translation). Germany has updated its internet infrastructure since 1990 but not this law.

On 15 April 2024, the Commission on Reproductive Self-Determination and Reproductive Medicine presented its final report recommending legalization. The commission concluded the ban is “not constitutionally required” and found “no overriding medical or psychological risks that speak against legalisation.” A simple repeal would not suffice; a new Reproductive Medicine Act would need to be drafted (Library of Congress). No legislation has been introduced as of March 2026.

Switzerland. Article 4 of the Federal Act on Medically Assisted Reproduction (Fortpflanzungsmedizingesetz, FMedG, 1998) states: “Ovum and embryo donation and surrogate motherhood are prohibited” (PMC). In March 2022, the National Council voted 107-57 to legalize egg donation. In September 2022, the Council of States approved. On 30 January 2025, the Federal Council announced plans for a full overhaul, with a legislative proposal expected by end of 2026, after which stakeholder consultations begin. 73% of surveyed Swiss support legalization (PET).

Waiting Times

Anonymity policy is the single biggest predictor of how long you wait for donor eggs.

Sources: IVF Finder, HFEA, clinic surveys.

Countries that guarantee anonymity and pay reasonable compensation attract more donors. Countries that require identity release and cap compensation at expense reimbursement get fewer volunteers. The UK’s 6-month-to-3-year wait is a direct consequence of its 2005 policy change. Spain’s essentially zero wait time is a direct consequence of Ley 14/2006’s anonymity guarantee and the Ministry of Health allowing meaningful compensation.

If you’re a UK patient choosing between waiting 18 months at home or flying to Barcelona next month, the law is what’s making that decision for you.

Donor Age Limits

Most countries restrict egg donors to women under 35, reflecting the medical evidence that oocyte quality declines with age.

Austria’s 18-30 cap is the strictest in Europe. Norway’s 25-year minimum is unusual: most countries set the floor at 18.

Recipient Age Limits

Spain has no statutory recipient age limit. Ley 14/2006 requires only that treatment offer “reasonable chances of success” without serious health risks. Most Spanish clinics set their own limit around 50 (Instituto Bernabeu). Greece is the only country in Europe where you can legally start donor egg IVF at 54, though you’ll need additional medical clearance from the National Authority for Medically Assisted Reproduction for ages 50-54 (LifeClinic).

What’s Changing

The trend across Europe is toward ending donor anonymity and legalizing egg donation where it’s currently banned. Four changes to watch:

Belgium is ending compulsory donor anonymity. Federal cabinet approved the plans in February 2026. Children will access non-identifying info at 12 and identifying info (name, nationality) at 16 (PET).

Germany’s expert commission recommended legalization in April 2024, concluding the current ban is “not constitutionally required” (Library of Congress). No legislation introduced yet.

Switzerland is working on a reform proposal expected by end of 2026 to legalize egg donation (PET).

UK raised donor compensation from £750 to £985 in October 2024, the first increase in 13 years. Whether this narrows the gap with Spain’s waiting times remains to be seen (HFEA).

Sources

• Ley 14/2006 (Spain). BOE
• Act 373/2011 Coll. (Czech Republic). PRONATAL
• Law 3305/2005, Law 4958/2022 (Greece). Ovagenesis
• Embryonenschutzgesetz 1990 (Germany). BMG English translation
• HFE Act 1990/2008, HFEA Regulations 2004 (UK). HFEA
• Loi n° 2021-1017 (France). Agence de la biomédecine
• FMedG/FMedRÄG 2015 (Austria). PMC
• Law of 6 July 2007 (Belgium). ResearchGate
• Bioteknologiloven 2020 (Norway). DLA Piper
• Act 1237/2006 (Finland). Springer
• Lei 32/2006 (Portugal)
• FMedG 1998 (Switzerland). PMC
• Donor compensation data: Civio, 2022
• ESHRE EIM Survey update (2024). PMC

Related research

• Fresh vs frozen donor eggs: does it matter?: a study comparing outcomes between fresh and vitrified donor egg cycles.

Compare donor egg costs: Cheapest IVF in Europe 2026 | Browse clinics by country: Clinic Directory | Ready to start? Send an enquiry