Editing Assisted reproductive technology (section)

===European Union===
[[File:Europe and assisted reproductive technology.svg|thumb|Number of assisted reproductive technology cycles in Europe between 1997 and 2014<ref name=edjnet>{{cite news |last1=Jézéquélou |first1=Orlane |title=How does assisted reproductive technology work in Europe? |url=https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/News/Data-news/How-does-assisted-reproductive-technology-work-in-Europe |access-date=29 November 2019 |work=Alternatives Economiques/EDJNet |date=23 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=De Geyter |first1=Ch. |last2=Calhaz-Jorge |first2=C. |last3=Kupka |first3=M.S. |last4=Wyns |first4=C. |last5=Mocanu |first5=E. |last6=Motrenko |first6=T. |last7=Scaravelli |first7=G. |last8=Smeenk |first8=J. |last9=Vidakovic1 |first9=S. |last10=Goossens |first10=V. |title=ART in Europe, 2014: results generated from European registries by ESHRE: The European IVF-monitoring Consortium (EIM) for the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) |journal=Human Reproduction |date=September 2018 |volume=33 |issue=9 |pages=1586–1601 |doi=10.1093/humrep/dey242 |pmid=30032255 |doi-access=free |hdl=10451/49519 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>]]
In [[Europe]], 157,500 children were born using assisted reproductive technology in 2015, according to the [[European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology]] (ESHRE).<ref name=edjnet /> But there are major differences in legislation across the Old Continent.
A [[Directive (European Union)|European directive]] fixes standards concerning the use of human tissue and cells,<ref>{{cite web |title=Directive 2004/23/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on setting standards of quality and safety for the donation, procurement, testing, processing, preservation, storage and distribution of human tissues and cells |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004L0023 |access-date=3 December 2019}}</ref> but all ethical and legal questions on ART remain the prerogative of [[Member state of the European Union|EU member states]].

[[File:Assisted reproductive technology across Europe.svg|left|thumb|Conditions of assisted reproductive technology in different European countries:<ref name=edjnet /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rainbow-europe.org/#0/8682/0|title=Rainbow Map|access-date=2019-11-12|language=en|publisher=ILGA-Europe}}</ref>
{{legend|#a6ce39|ART authorized for lesbian couples}}
{{legend|#b2df8a|ART authorized for single women}}
{{legend|#33a02c|ART authorized for single women and lesbian couples}}
{{legend|#6F2C91|ART prohibited for single women and lesbian couples}}]]
Across Europe, the legal criteria per availability vary somewhat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ieb-eib.org/docs/pdf/2019-04/doc-1554801302-21.pdf|title=Encadrement juridique international dans les différents domaines de la bioéthique|access-date=2019-11-04|language=fr|publisher=Agence de la biomédecine}}</ref> In 11 countries all women may benefit; in 8 others only heterosexual couples are concerned; in 7 only single women; and in 2 ([[Austria]] and [[Germany]]) only lesbian couples.
[[Spain]] was the first European country to open ART to all women, in 1977, the year the first sperm bank was opened there. In [[France]], the right to ART is accorded to all women since 2019. In the last 15 years, legislation has evolved quickly. For example, [[Portugal]] made ART available in 2006 with conditions very similar to those in France, before amending the law in 2016 to allow lesbian couples and single women to benefit. [[Italy]] clarified its uncertain legal situation in 2004 by adopting Europe's strictest laws: ART is only available to heterosexual couples, married or otherwise, and sperm donation is prohibited.

Today, 21 countries provide partial public funding for ART treatment. The seven others, which do not, are [[Ireland]], [[Cyprus]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Malta]], and [[Romania]].
Such subsidies are subject to conditions, however. In [[Belgium]], a fixed payment of €1,073 is made for each full cycle of the IVF process. The woman must be aged under 43 and may not carry out more than six cycles of ART. There is also a limit on the number of transferable embryos, which varies according to age and the number of cycles completed.
In France, ART is subsidized in full by national health insurance for women up to age 43, with limits of 4 attempts at IVF and 6 at artificial insemination.
[[Germany]] tightened its conditions for public funding in 2004, which caused a sharp drop in the number of ART cycles carried out, from more than 102,000 in 2003 to fewer than 57,000 the following year. Since then the figure has remained stable.

17 countries limit access to ART according to the age of the woman. 10 countries have established an upper age limit, varying from 40 ([[Finland]], [[Netherlands]]) to 50 (including Spain, [[Greece]] and Estonia).
Since 1994, France is one of a number of countries (including Germany, Spain, and the UK) which use the somewhat vague notion of "natural age of procreation". In 2017, the steering council of France's Agency of Biomedicine established an age limit of 43 for women using ART.
10 countries have no age limit for ART. These include Austria, [[Hungary]], Italy and [[Poland]].

Most European countries allow donations of gametes by third parties. But the situations vary depending on whether sperm or eggs are concerned. Sperm donations are authorized in 20 EU member states; in 11 of them anonymity is allowed. Egg donations are possible in 17 states, including 8 under anonymous conditions.
On 12 April, the [[Council of Europe]] adopted a recommendation which encourages an end to anonymity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN.asp?FileID=27680&lang=EN|title=Recommendation 2156 (2019){{dash}}Anonymous donation of sperm and oocytes: balancing the rights of parents, donors and children|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> In the UK, anonymous sperm donations ended in 2005 and children have access to the identity of the donor when they reach adulthood.
In France, the principle of anonymous donations of sperm or embryos is maintained in the law of bioethics of 2011, but a new bill under discussion may change the situation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alternatives-economiques.fr/pma-panique-filiation/00090402|title=PMA: panique dans la filiation|author=Céline Mouzon|access-date=2019-11-12|language=fr|date=2019-09-23}}</ref>