🇵🇹 Fertility treatment in Portugal

The legal framework

Access

Article 6 of Law 32/2006 allows different-sex couples, female couples (married or living in equivalent conditions), and all women regardless of marital status and sexual orientation to use assisted procreation, provided they are at least 18. Article 4 states that assisted procreation is normally used after a diagnosis of infertility or to avoid serious disease, but that it can be used by all women regardless of an infertility diagnosis.^[1]

Donation and the right to know

Donated eggs, sperm or embryos can be used when pregnancy, or pregnancy without serious genetic disease, cannot be achieved with the patients’ own gametes, and donors are not considered parents of the child. Buying or selling eggs, sperm or embryos is prohibited. People born from donation can obtain genetic information that concerns them from health services and, from age 18, the donor’s civil identification (full name) from the National Council for Medically Assisted Procreation. A birth record never states that a child was born through assisted procreation.^[1]

Surrogacy

Article 8 permits surrogacy agreements only exceptionally and free of charge, in cases such as absence of the uterus, injury or disease of the uterus, or another condition that absolutely and permanently prevents pregnancy. At least one intended parent’s gametes must be used, the surrogate cannot donate the egg, and each agreement needs prior authorization from the National Council for Medically Assisted Procreation after hearing the medical and psychologists’ professional bodies.^[1]

Egg freezing and embryo freezing

Law 32/2006 regulates what happens to stored sperm, eggs, testicular and ovarian tissue, and embryos, including consent requirements and posthumous use. Because rules on storage periods and use after a partner’s death are detailed and have changed over time, ask clinics how the current text applies to your situation.^[1]

For how egg and embryo freezing work and how common they are in the US, see our guides on egg freezing and frozen vs. fresh embryo transfer.

Questions to ask a clinic in Portugal

• Does the clinic report its results to the national or regional registry, and can it share its own outcomes by age?
• Which of the rules on this page apply to you as a foreign patient, and what documents will you need?
• If you use donor eggs, sperm or embryos, what information about the donor will you and a future child be able to access?
• How long can frozen eggs or embryos be stored, what does storage cost each year, and can they be shipped to another country?
• How many visits are needed in person, and which steps can be done with a clinic at home?

See also our full list of questions to ask a fertility clinic.

Not covered yet

We only publish facts we can tie to a primary source. Not yet covered on this page: Treatment prices; National registry outcomes; Public health system eligibility rules.