Oocyte donation: the legislative framework in Western Europe

Relatively few countries have legislation addressing oocyte donation. Where such legislation does exist it is entirely in the context of broader legislation concerned with the regulation of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or assisted reproduction more generally. Within Western Europe only nine countries so far have passed Acts addressing assisted reproduction. These countries fall into two groups in their approach to oocyte donation: those which do not allow gamete donation, and hence oocyte donation, in the context of IVF (Austria, Germany, Norway and Sweden) and those which specifically permit the use of donor oocytes in the treatment of infertility or to avoid the transmission of disease (Denmark, France, Spain and the UK). In Switzerland, a federation of cantons, where legislation relating to assisted reproduction is primarily a cantonal matter, except where it affects constitutional rights, the picture is similar. The Canton of Aargau does not allow gamete donation in the context of IVF, the Cantons of Glarus and Basel do not permit gamete donation at all and the remaining cantons follow the guidelines of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.