How to choose the best clinic for egg donation abroad?

First of all, it's important to remember that most people don't go abroad for ART (assisted reproductive technology) treatment as their first choice but it's often the only solution left because the treatments to which patients are entitled to are not available within a reasonable timeframe or are not available at all.

Everyone is free to make their own choices and there are hundreds of centres offering ART treatments abroad and we could have published an exhaustive list of these centres, however…

• Are they all reputable?
• Do they have good results? Do they comply with all legal obligations?
• Do they respect general ethical expectations?
• Is it possible to communicate with them in English?
• Do they have state-of-the-art medical equipment?
• Is their cleanliness beyond reproach?
• Are their commercial practices transparent (prices, surcharges, etc.)?
• Is there a legislation that protects patients and donors?
• Are there reliable and credible results?
• Affordable prices?
• Etc.

We have asked ourselves all these questions, which every candidate for medical treatment abroad must ask themselves, and so it was only natural to do the same within the framework of the a non-profit organisation in order to suggest only centres that provide maximum guarantees (legal, medical, ethical) and success.

Following our own experience and after analysing that of the hundreds of members of the non-profit organisation and the thousands of visitors to our forum, we have come to the conclusion that the appropriate clinic for egg donation or other ART treatments abroad must fulfil a certain number of criteria that we consider essential:

• modern medical and technical facilities (the clinic must have the latest technology in ART,
• meticulous cleanliness, an absolute must,
• a human size facility: not a ‘baby factory’,
• very short or no waiting time (it usually takes around two months from the first contact with the clinic to the egg donation treatment on site),
• an on-site medical and paramedical team that really listens to patients and spends time with them,
• personalised treatment tailored to each patient's cause of infertility,
• a warm welcome (it's very important to feel confident),
• affordable and fixed prices with no hidden extras costs,
• price transparency including price lists on the clinic’s website,
• legislation to protect donors and patients,
• communication in English,
• reliable, controlled and verifiable results which should be among the highest in Europe for egg donation (around 70% pregnancy rate) and ART in general.

This may seem obvious but not all these criteria can be found in the hundreds of IVF clinics that exist in Europe and around the world.

Secondly, and very importantly, the partner clinics must be located in countries that comply with international ethical criteria for egg donation, i.e. anonymous, free and voluntary.

We check that the bioethics law of the country concerned clearly respects these 3 criteria.

In addition, the non-profit organisation has to have personally visited and inspected the clinics. Inspections of our partner clinics are regularly carried out.

Our selection process for clinics specialising in egg donation and other ART treatment is complex and rigorous. The process includes a survey of the country's gynaecological authorities, who work with these clinics, former patients and so on.

For the time being, we have selected four clinics specialising in egg donation and other ART treatments which fulfil all the above criteria. This list is not intended to promote any particular clinic but rather to provide information that will enable readers of this site, if they so wish, to benefit from reliable, ethical and verified information.

• Zlin reproductive medicine centre in the Czech Republic – CLICK HERE
• Sanus medical reproduction clinic in the Czech Republic – CLICK HERE
• CETI clinic in Portugal – CLICK HERE