The Evolution of Legislation in the Field of Medically Assisted Reproduction and Embryo Stem Cell Research in European Union Members

Table 3

Comparison of EU laws in the field of MAR and HER.

Country	Eligibility criteria to access MAR	Type of fecundation			PGD	Gender selection	Destination of surplus embryos and gametes
		Homologous	Heterologous	Surrogacy			Donation	Cryopreservation	Postmortem fecundation	Research on surplus embryos
Austria	Married or stable couples	Yes	No	No	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined	Forbidden	Forbidden
Belgium	No restrictions	Yes	Yes	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed^(d)	Allowed^(e)	Allowed^(g)
Bulgaria	Couples/single women	Yes	Yes	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed
Croatia	Couples/single women	Yes	Yes	No	Undefined	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed^(d)	Forbidden	Undefined
Cyprus	Married couples	Yes	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined
Czech Republic	Married couples	Yes	No	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Allowed
Denmark	Couples/single women	Yes	Yes	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed^(d)	Forbidden	Allowed^(g)
Estonia	Couples/single women	Yes	Yes	No	Undefined	Undefined	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed
Finland	Couples/single women	Yes	Yes	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed^(g)
France	Married or stable couples	Yes	Yes^(a)	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed
Germany	Married or stable couples	Yes	Yes^(a)	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Forbidden
Greece	Women up to 50 years old	Yes	Yes	Yes	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed^(d)	Allowed^(e)	Allowed^(g)
Hungary	Couple/single women	Yes	Yes	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed^(g)
Ireland	No specific legislation	UN	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Allowed	Undefined	Forbidden	Forbidden
Italy	Married or stable couples	Yes	Yes	No	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Allowed	Forbidden	Forbidden
Latvia	Couples/Single women	Yes	Yes	No	Undefined	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed
Lithuania	Undefined	UN	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined
Luxembourg	Undefined	UN	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined
Malta	Undefined	UN	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined
Netherlands	Undefined	UN	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined
Poland	Undefined	UN	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined
Portugal	Married or stable couples	Yes	No	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed
Romania	Married or stable couples	Yes	Yes^(a)	No	Undefined	Undefined	Allowed	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed
Slovakia	Married or stable couples	Yes	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Forbidden	Undefined
Slovenia	Married or stable couples	Yes	UN	UN	Undefined	Undefined	Undefined	Allowed	Forbidden	Allowed
Spain	No restrictions	Yes	Yes	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed^(f)	Allowed^(g)
Sweden	Married or stable couples	Yes	Yes^(a)	No	Allowed^(b)	Allowed^(c)	Allowed	Allowed^(d)	Forbidden	Allowed^(g)
UK	Couples/single women	Yes	Yes	Yes	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed^(g)

(a): with restrictions; (b): in order to avoid genetic disease; (c): in order to avoid sex-linked disease; (d): up to 5 years; (e): between 6 months and 2 years after the donor’s death; (f): up to 12 months after the donor’s death; (g): allowed on embryos up to 14 days; UN: undefined.