The first “test-tube baby” was born in England in 1978, and since that time this and other assisted reproductive techniques have become widespread throughout the world. Some countries prohibit all or most assisted reproduction practices, notably those that involve the creation and destruction of human embryos. Other countries permit and regulate these practices, but prohibit payment for women’s eggs used in the procedure beyond reimbursement for specified reasonable costs. At the present time no countries explicitly sanction the commercial sale of eggs for assisted reproduction, although in some countries the lack of regulatory oversight has allowed this practice to flourish.
Table: National policies
The Table shows policies currently in effect regarding the use of women’s eggs for assisted reproduction purposes.
Key
- PROHIBITED: This practice is prohibited by national law or policies having the force of law.
- commercial prohibited: Commercial use of this practice is prohibited by national law or policies having the force of law, but non-commercial use is allowed.
- commercial allowed: Commercial use of this practice is allowed by national law or policies having the force of law.
- permitted: This practice is allowed by national law or policies having the force of law, but policies concerning compensation are unknown.
- no policy: This practice is not addressed by national law or policies having the force of law.
- ?: It is unknown whether this practice is addressed by national law or policies having the force of law.
Note: The categories defined in the key and used in the table characterize the polices in any given country in a broad manner. Consult the page for each country for more detailed accounts of current policies.
You can click the icon in any column heading to sort by that column. To sort the other direction, click it again.
| |
Region |
Population |
Eggs for assisted reproduction |
|---|
| Afghanistan |
|
31,889,923 |
? |
| Albania |
|
3,600,523 |
? |
| Algeria |
|
33,333,216 |
? |
| Andorra |
|
71,822 |
? |
| Angola |
|
15,941,000 |
? |
| Antigua and Barbuda |
|
82,786 |
? |
| Argentina |
|
40,301,927 |
No policy |
| Armenia |
|
3,229,900 |
? |
| Australia |
|
21,260,000 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Austria |
|
8,316,487 |
PROHIBITED |
| Azerbaijan |
|
8,653,000 |
? |
| Bahamas |
|
330,549 |
? |
| Bahrain |
|
1,046,814 |
? |
| Bangladesh |
|
150,448,340 |
? |
| Barbados |
|
279,000 |
? |
| Belarus |
|
9,689,800 |
? |
| Belgium |
|
10,584,534 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Belize |
|
314,275 |
? |
| Benin |
|
8,439,000 |
? |
| Bhutan |
|
672,425 |
? |
| Bolivia |
|
9,119,152 |
? |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
|
3,981,239 |
? |
| Botswana |
|
1,639,833 |
? |
| Brazil |
|
186,757,608 |
No policy |
| Brunei |
|
391,450 |
? |
| Bulgaria |
|
7,933,000 |
? |
| Burkina Faso |
|
13,228,000 |
? |
| Burundi |
|
7,548,000 |
? |
| Cambodia |
|
13,971,000 |
? |
| Cameroon |
|
17,795,000 |
? |
| Canada |
|
33,255,000 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Cape Verde |
|
499,796 |
? |
| Central African Republic |
|
4,216,666 |
? |
| Chad |
|
10,780,600 |
? |
| Chile |
|
16,598,074 |
No policy |
| China |
|
1,321,851,888 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Colombia |
|
44,087,000 |
No policy |
| Comoros |
|
798,000 |
? |
| Cook Islands |
|
18,700 |
? |
| Costa Rica |
|
4,133,884 |
? |
| Croatia |
|
4,453,500 |
No policy |
| Cuba |
|
11,394,043 |
? |
| Cyprus |
|
788,457 |
? |
| Czech Republic |
|
10,381,130 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Côte d'Ivoire |
|
18,013,409 |
? |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo |
|
62,600,000 |
? |
| Denmark |
|
5,475,791 |
Commercial allowed |
| Djibouti |
|
496,374 |
? |
| Dominica |
|
71,727 |
? |
| Dominican Republic |
|
9,760,000 |
? |
| Ecuador |
|
13,755,680 |
No policy |
| Egypt |
|
80,335,036 |
No policy |
| El Salvador |
|
6,600,000 |
? |
| Equatorial Guinea |
|
504,000 |
? |
| Eritrea |
|
4,401,009 |
? |
| Estonia |
|
1,340,602 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Ethiopia |
|
75,067,000 |
? |
| Fiji |
|
853,445 |
? |
| Finland |
|
5,308,208 |
Commercial prohibited |
| France |
|
64,473,140 |
Commercial allowed |
| Gabon |
|
1,454,867 |
? |
| Gambia |
|
1,700,000 |
? |
| Georgia |
|
4,661,473 |
? |
| Germany |
|
82,210,000 |
PROHIBITED |
| Ghana |
|
23,000,000 |
? |
| Greece |
|
11,216,708 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Grenada |
|
110,000 |
? |
| Guatemala |
|
13,000,000 |
? |
| Guinea |
|
9,402,000 |
? |
| Guinea-Bissau |
|
1,586,000 |
? |
| Guyana |
|
751,000 |
? |
| Haiti |
|
8,706,497 |
? |
| Honduras |
|
7,483,763 |
? |
| Hungary |
|
10,053,000 |
Commercial allowed |
| Iceland |
|
316,252 |
? |
| India |
|
1,132,446,000 |
No policy |
| Indonesia |
|
234,693,997 |
? |
| Iran |
|
71,208,000 |
? |
| Iraq |
|
29,267,000 |
? |
| Ireland |
|
6,000,000 |
? |
| Israel |
|
7,282,000 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Italy |
|
59,448,163 |
PROHIBITED |
| Jamaica |
|
2,651,000 |
? |
| Japan |
|
127,433,494 |
PROHIBITED |
| Jordan |
|
6,053,193 |
No policy |
| Kazakhstan |
|
15,217,711 |
? |
| Kenya |
|
34,707,800 |
? |
| Kuwait |
|
2,390,543 |
? |
| Kyrgyzstan |
|
5,264,000 |
? |
| Laos |
|
6,521,998 |
? |
| Latvia |
|
2,270,700 |
Permitted |
| Lebanon |
|
4,196,453 |
? |
| Lesotho |
|
1,795,000 |
? |
| Liberia |
|
3,386,000 |
? |
| Libya |
|
6,173,579 |
? |
| Liechtenstein |
|
35,365 |
? |
| Lithuania |
|
3,369,600 |
? |
| Luxembourg |
|
480,222 |
? |
| Macedonia |
|
2,038,514 |
? |
| Madagascar |
|
19,448,815 |
? |
| Malawi |
|
12,884,000 |
? |
| Malaysia |
|
27,496,000 |
No policy |
| Maldives |
|
300,000 |
? |
| Mali |
|
11,995,402 |
? |
| Malta |
|
402,000 |
? |
| Marshall Islands |
|
61,963 |
? |
| Mauritania |
|
3,069,000 |
? |
| Mauritius |
|
1,256,739 |
? |
| Mexico |
|
108,700,891 |
No policy |
| Micronesia |
|
107,862 |
? |
| Moldova |
|
4,128,047 |
? |
| Monaco |
|
32,671 |
? |
| Mongolia |
|
2,951,786 |
? |
| Montenegro |
|
684,736 |
? |
| Morocco |
|
33,757,175 |
No policy |
| Mozambique |
|
21,397,000 |
? |
| Myanmar |
|
55,390,000 |
? |
| Namibia |
|
1,820,916 |
? |
| Nauru |
|
9,275 |
? |
| Nepal |
|
28,901,790 |
? |
| Netherlands |
|
16,408,557 |
Commercial prohibited |
| New Zealand |
|
4,252,000 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Nicaragua |
|
5,603,000 |
? |
| Niger |
|
13,957,000 |
? |
| Nigeria |
|
148,000,000 |
? |
| North Korea |
|
23,301,725 |
? |
| Norway |
|
4,752,735 |
PROHIBITED |
| Oman |
|
3,204,897 |
? |
| Pakistan |
|
169,300,000 |
? |
| Palau |
|
20,842 |
? |
| Panama |
|
3,320,000 |
? |
| Papua New Guinea |
|
6,300,000 |
? |
| Paraguay |
|
6,158,000 |
? |
| Peru |
|
28,674,757 |
No policy |
| Philippines |
|
90,500,000 |
No policy |
| Poland |
|
38,518,241 |
? |
| Portugal |
|
10,848,692 |
No policy |
| Qatar |
|
907,229 |
? |
| Republic of the Congo |
|
3,999,000 |
? |
| Romania |
|
22,246,862 |
No policy |
| Russia |
|
142,008,838 |
Commercial allowed |
| Rwanda |
|
10,186,063 |
? |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis |
|
42,696 |
? |
| Saint Lucia |
|
160,765 |
? |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
|
110,000 |
? |
| Samoa |
|
214,265 |
? |
| San Marino |
|
29,615 |
? |
| Sao Tome and Principe |
|
157,000 |
? |
| Saudi Arabia |
|
27,601,038 |
? |
| Senegal |
|
11,658,000 |
? |
| Serbia |
|
10,150,265 |
? |
| Seychelles |
|
80,699 |
? |
| Sierra Leone |
|
5,900,000 |
? |
| Singapore |
|
4,680,600 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Slovakia |
|
5,447,502 |
? |
| Slovenia |
|
2,023,358 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Solomon Islands |
|
552,438 |
? |
| Somalia |
|
9,558,666 |
? |
| South Africa |
|
43,700,000 |
No policy |
| South Korea |
|
49,044,790 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Spain |
|
45,200,737 |
Commercial allowed |
| Sri Lanka |
|
19,668,000 |
? |
| Sudan |
|
39,379,358 |
? |
| Suriname |
|
470,784 |
? |
| Swaziland |
|
1,032,000 |
? |
| Sweden |
|
9,182,927 |
Permitted |
| Switzerland |
|
7,591,400 |
PROHIBITED |
| Syrian Arab Republic |
|
19,405,000 |
? |
| Taiwan |
|
22,911,000 |
Commercial allowed |
| Tajikistan |
|
6,920,300 |
? |
| Tanzania |
|
37,849,133 |
? |
| Thailand |
|
63,038,247 |
No policy |
| Timor-Leste |
|
1,115,000 |
? |
| Togo |
|
5,700,000 |
? |
| Tonga |
|
112,000 |
? |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
|
1,305,000 |
? |
| Tunisia |
|
10,102,000 |
PROHIBITED |
| Turkey |
|
70,586,256 |
PROHIBITED |
| Turkmenistan |
|
5,110,023 |
? |
| Tuvalu |
|
11,992 |
? |
| Uganda |
|
30,900,000 |
? |
| Ukraine |
|
46,372,700 |
? |
| United Arab Emirates |
|
46,372,700 |
? |
| United Kingdom |
|
60,587,300 |
Commercial prohibited |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
|
60,587,300 |
Commercial allowed |
| United States |
|
|
|
| United States of America |
|
304,072,000 |
No policy |
| Uruguay |
|
3,460,607 |
No policy |
| Uzbekistan |
|
26,593,000 |
? |
| Vanuatu |
|
209,000 |
? |
| Venezuela |
|
28,199,822 |
No policy |
| Vietnam |
|
87,375,000 |
Commercial prohibited |
| Yemen |
|
23,013,376 |
? |
| Zambia |
|
11,668,000 |
? |
| Zimbabwe |
|
13,010,000 |
? |
