The Definitive Guide to IVF and Egg Donation 2022 in Poland (2023)

Why IVF in Poland?

Until recently, Poland was not always known for its ability to provide quality fertility treatments. Due to the political and social climate, infertility was considered a taboo subject and it was difficult to find real medical help for international fertility patients. And this despite the fact that the first successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) was performed there in 1987. In fact, Poland enacted its regulations on IVF treatments quite late, in 2015. The laws introduced were aimed at standardizing the quality of medical treatments and healthcare protocols used across the country to establish a uniform standard of care.

Thanks to the quality of assisted reproduction treatments and the relatively low average cost of IVF, Poland has become one of the most attractive European IVF destinations.

• Significantly lower IVF treatment costs (compared to the European average)
• High quality of medical services (according to international standards)
• Comfortable treatment conditions
• Competent medical staff communicating in English
• Convenient travel arrangements (two major low-cost airlines serve major cities in Poland)
• No age limit regarding female patients
• Egg/sperm/embryo donation is allowed

IVF clinics in Poland

When it comes to the standard of IVF treatment in Poland, it doesn't differ much from major European fertility destinations. Polish private IVF clinics offer modern facilities as well as competent and professional medical staff. The effectiveness of treatment and available options are not inferior to European neighbors. The Polish cities most frequently chosen by IVF patients are Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wroclaw, Poznań and Katowice.

Clinics or “infertility treatment centers” need accreditation from the Ministry of Health and must meet certain requirements. A current record ofaccredited assisted reproduction facilities and embryo banks in Polandis available online..

Clinics report their findings to the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), which publishes annual aggregated reports describing the state of fertility treatments in Europe.

Fertility treatments in Poland

Probably one of the most beneficial aspects of IVF treatment in Poland is the lack of a legal age limit for patients and their partners. Under current law, all fertility treatment procedures are only available to infertile heterosexual couples. Single women and same-sex couples cannot undergo IVF in Poland. In principle, in vitro fertilization is only available to patients who demonstrate that they have tried other methods of treatment for a period of at least twelve months.

The donation of sperm, eggs and embryos is allowed; Strict anonymity is enforced by law, although clinics are required to store personally identifiable donor and recipient information as part of the case documentation.

PGT-A and PID tests are available to patients, although the latter requires a valid medical reason. Sex selection based on embryo testing is strictly prohibited, except in cases where there is a possibility that a child could be affected by a disorder transmitted by the sex chromosomes. Only six eggs can be fertilized at a time, unless the patient has failed two assisted reproduction treatments in the past.

Surplus oocytes and embryos can be donated anonymously. At the same time, the sale or destruction of viable embryos is prohibited under penalty of imprisonment.

IVF for lesbian couples in Poland

IVF for same-sex couples is not allowed in Poland.

Egg donation in Poland

If you are thinking about making an anonymous IVF egg donation, Poland is a good option. Again, sperm and embryo donations are anonymous. Potential donors must register with a national donor registry managed by the Polish Ministry of Health.

According to ESHRE data, egg donation treatments are not as popular in Poland as they are in other European countries. Donor availability remains an issue: while around 14,000 autologous egg treatments were carried out in the country in 2014, only 756 egg donation cycles were carried out.

Egg donor information available in Poland

Clinics are required to maintain anonymity between patient and donor. Matching is based on "phenotype matching" (traits such as skin and hair color, height, weight, eye color), race, ethnicity, and blood type.

Donors must be registered in a national registry. Children born by donation can access the register and receive some non-identifiable information about the donor: year and place of birth, physical description and the results of their aptitude tests.

Note that finding donors is still quite difficult in Poland, in part because of the complicated attitude towards IVF and related treatments. Therefore, the waiting time for a donor can reach 12 months.

Egg donor qualifications

Polish law establishes certain medical qualifications that a potential donor must meet before being allowed to donate. Donors must test negative for some serious infectious diseases.

Legally required donor eligibility tests:

• Anti-HIV-1 and HIV-2
• HbsAg
• Anti-HBc
• Anti-VHC-AB
• chlamydia
• VDRL
• anticorpos anti-RHD
• CMV
• Malaria
• tripanossomose

Egg and sperm donor candidates must also undergo a psychological examination at fertility clinics.

Each donor can only have 10 genetic descendants; after the birth of the tenth child, the donor's data will be removed from the donor register.

Embryo donation in Poland

Couples who have completed fertility treatment but still have extra embryos can keep them for up to 20 years or give them up for adoption. After twenty years, the embryos are automatically put up for adoption and the process does not require the patient's consent. Destruction of viable embryos is illegal and carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

IVF costs in Poland

Poland is by far one of the cheapest destinations for fertility treatment in Europe. The average cost of an egg donation in Poland is €4,000 to €6,000, while prices for a single IVF cycle with your own eggs in Poland range from €2,200 to €5,200.

Sources: IVF Patient Guide, WhereIVF.com>>>| Patient Consultation Reports 2013-2019, Fertility Clinics Abroad Ltd., Edinburgh, August 2019 | 2013-2019 Patient Consultation Report, IVF Media Ltd., Dublin, August 2019

Poland is by far one of the cheapest destinations for fertility treatment in Europe. However, it should be noted that some clinics are not as transparent as they should be regarding additional costs incurred during treatment; Always ask the clinic of your choice if these costs are included in your budget:

• the donation fee, your medication and evaluation (if you are interested in donating eggs)
• egg removal
• Sperm recovery and sperm preparation
• ICSI
• IVF supplements (Techniken im IVF-Lab)
• blastocyst transmission
• Vitrification (freezing) and storage of embryos/blastocysts
• frozen embryo transfer

IVF success rates in Poland

As the field of assisted reproductive technologies in Poland was not regulated by law until 2015, there are not many reliable national statistical sources showing the number of procedures and pregnancies performed.

ESHRE is the European agency in charge of collecting and publishing data on fertility treatments in member countries; however, their reports are published with great delay.

*Pregnancy rates by embryo transfer. Source: ART in Europe, 2016: Results from ESHRE European Registries>>>| *Only 101 ED cycles were reported for Latvia: insufficient data.

Your individual chances of IVF treatment success in PolandRemember that average success rates should not be the main deciding factor in choosing your practice. Each patient is different: they place different emphasis and importance on infertility diagnoses and medical histories. Therefore, the prognoses for each patient can vary greatly and often differ from the average success rates presented at each clinic. If you would like clarification on a clinic's success rates, please call the clinic before making an appointment; describe your medical history in detail, including your age, weight, height, diagnosis of infertility, number of failed cycles, tests and procedures performed, etc. and ask about their prediction of individual success.

IVF laws and clinic accreditation in Poland

The fundamentals of infertility treatment were adopted in 2015. It is called the law of June 25, 2015 (effective November 1, 2015). Regulates the use of gametes and embryos, as well as eligibility criteria for patients and assisted reproduction techniques such as insemination and in vitro fertilization.

Clinics must obtain accreditation from the Ministry of Health. You are obliged to submit to the Ministry the results of all treatments carried out for statistical purposes; these statistics are not publicly available. Many, if not all, clinics also submit their data to ESHRE: they publish annual reports, albeit with quite a delay. Clinics are also subject to annual inspections to ensure proper standards of care are maintained.

IVF in Poland - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Resources used in this article

• Legislation and reimbursement for ART and IUI treatments in Europe,
  https://www.eshre.eu/Data-collection-and-research/Consortia/EIM/Legislation-for-ART-and-IUI-treatments
• Patient Consultation Reports 2013-2019, Fertility Clinics Abroad Ltd., Edinburgh, August 2019.
• 2013-2019 Patient Consultation Report, IVF Media Ltd., Dublin, August 2019.
• ART in Europe, 2016: Findings from the ESHRE European Registries
  https://academic.oup.com/hropen/article/2020/3/hoaa032/5879305
• Registration of Accredited Assisted Reproduction Units and Embryo Banks in Poland
  https://roib.ezdrowie.gov.pl/