For the community as a whole, the cost of IVF on average pays back by 700% by tax from future employment by the conceived human being. European Union
In Europe, 157,500 children were born using assisted reproductive technology in 2015, according to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). But there are major differences in legislation across the Old Continent. A European directive fixes standards concerning the use of human tissue and cells, but all ethical and legal questions on ART remain the prerogative of EU member states. Across Europe, the legal criteria per availability vary somewhat. 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 Europes 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 Frances 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.