IVF Abroad vs. in the US: How Laws and Data Differ by Country

Many people consider fertility treatment outside their home country, and many people from abroad come to the US. The differences that matter most are often legal rather than medical: who can be treated, whether donors are anonymous, age limits, and how surrogacy is treated. This guide compares those rules across the countries covered in our destination guides, using official laws, court rulings and registries. It is general information, not legal or medical advice. Laws change, so confirm current rules locally.

The comparison at a glance

Country	Who can be treated	Donor anonymity	Age limit (woman)	Surrogacy
Spain	Any woman over 18, regardless of marital status or sexual orientation	Anonymous; non-identifying information available	No fixed limit in the law	Contracts are void
Portugal	Different-sex couples, female couples and all women, from 18	Donor’s name available to the child at 18	Not covered here	Unpaid only, in exceptional medical cases, with prior authorization
Czech Republic	A woman and a man applying together	Anonymous	Not over 49	Not covered here
Greece	Adults, up to the legal age limit	Donor chooses	Up to 54; ages 50–54 need a permit	Not covered here
Argentina	Any adult with informed consent	Identity only by court order, for well-founded reasons	Not covered here	Not covered here
Mexico	Varies	Varies	Varies	Civil rules set by each state
Colombia	No specific ART law covered here	Not covered here	Not covered here	Not regulated by law

Sources: Spain, Law 14/2006;^[1] Portugal, Law 32/2006;^[8] Czech Republic, Act 373/2011;^[2] Greece, Law 4958/2022;^[3] Argentina, Law 26.862 and the Civil and Commercial Code;^[4] Mexico, Supreme Court AI 16/2016;^[6] Colombia, Constitutional Court T-275/2022.^[7] “Not covered here” means we have not yet verified the rule against a primary source.

Access: who can be treated

Rules on access vary the most. Spain’s law allows any woman over 18 with full legal capacity to be treated, independently of marital status and sexual orientation.^[1] Argentina’s Law 26.862 gives access to any adult who has given informed consent and prohibits coverage rules that exclude people for sexual orientation or marital status.^[4] The Czech Republic, by contrast, frames treatment around a woman and a man applying together as an infertile couple.^[2]

Single women and female couples considering treatment abroad should check this first. See also fertility treatment for single parents and LGBTQ+ families.

Donor anonymity

Donor eggs are a major reason people travel. The countries differ on what children born from donation can learn later:

• Spain and the Czech Republic require anonymous donation.^[1][2] In Spain, children and recipients may obtain general, non-identifying information about the donor.^[1]
• Portugal lets people born from donation obtain the donor’s full name from the national council at age 18.^[8]
• Greece lets the donor decide whether to remain anonymous, under the 2022 reform.^[3]
• Argentina allows a person born from donation to obtain the donor’s medical information when relevant to their health, and the donor’s identity by court order for well-founded reasons.^[4]

Before using donor eggs anywhere, including in the US, ask what information about the donor you and a future child will be able to access, and put it in writing. For US donor egg outcomes, see donor egg IVF success rates.

Age limits

Greece sets the limit at 54 years and 0 days, with treatment from 50 years and 1 day requiring a permit from the National Authority for Medically Assisted Reproduction.^[3] The Czech Republic allows treatment if the woman’s age has not exceeded 49.^[2] Spain’s law sets no fixed upper limit but requires clinics to inform women of the risks of pregnancy at a clinically inadvisable age.^[1] Individual clinics may apply their own limits in any country.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy rules are among the most restrictive and the most changeable. In Spain, surrogacy contracts are null and void, and legal maternity is determined by birth.^[1] In Colombia, the Constitutional Court described an absolute legislative omission and urged the Government and Congress to legislate.^[7] In Mexico, the Supreme Court has explained that health aspects are federal while substantive civil matters belong to the states, so rules vary by state.^[6] Anyone considering surrogacy abroad needs independent legal advice in both countries, including on how parentage will be recognized at home.

Data: what you can and cannot compare

The US publishes outcomes for each clinic. In 2022, 452 US clinics reported results to the CDC, which you can browse on FertilityList.^[9] Most destination countries publish national or regional totals instead:

• Spain’s national registry reported 168,372 IVF cycles in 2023 and estimated that about 20% of the resulting births took place in other countries, reflecting foreign patients.^[10]
• The Latin American Registry reported 21,379 initiated cycles in Argentina and 21,213 in Mexico for 2021, from centers that report voluntarily.^[5]

National totals are useful for understanding scale and practice, but they are not clinic success rates and use different definitions from the CDC. A US figure such as 49.7% live births per intended retrieval for patients under 35 should not be compared directly with a foreign clinic’s advertised “success rate”.^[9] See how to read IVF success rates.

Practical questions before choosing a destination

• Does the clinic report to a national or regional registry, and will it share its own audited results by age?
• Which local rules apply to you as a foreign patient, and what documents are required?
• How many trips are needed, and which steps can be done by a clinic at home?
• Can frozen eggs or embryos be shipped back, and what are the legal requirements on both sides?
• If something goes wrong, what follow-up care is available, and who pays for it?

Related guides

• Fertility destinations
• Questions to ask a fertility clinic
• Embryo freezing vs. egg freezing