A donor egg IVF cycle abroad takes most UK patients six to ten weeks from the first video call to the pregnancy test, with one or two trips of two to five days. The medical part is short. The part that worries people is everything around it. Who does my scans? Where do I get the drugs? What does the HFEA say? Can I fly home the day after transfer? What do I tell work? What happens when I come home pregnant? This guide answers those questions in the order they come up, with a week-by-week timeline and a table showing how the five main countries differ on the things that matter to a UK patient.
- IVF abroad from the UK – the short version
- Why UK patients have IVF abroad in the first place
- How long does IVF abroad take? The week-by-week timeline
- Do I need a UK clinic if I have IVF abroad? Scans and blood tests at home
- Where do I get the medication for a cycle abroad?
- What does the HFEA say about IVF abroad?
- Can I bring embryos back to the UK?
- How many trips, and how long each one?
- Can I fly after embryo transfer?
- Time off work, travel insurance and the costs people forget
- Time off work
- Travel insurance
- Costs UK patients forget
- Coming home pregnant: the first two weeks
- If the cycle does not work
- IVF abroad – frequently asked questions
- How long does IVF abroad take?
- How many times do I have to travel?
- Can I fly after embryo transfer?
- Do I need a UK clinic if I have IVF abroad?
- Can I get my IVF drugs in the UK for a cycle abroad?
- Is IVF abroad regulated?
- Can I bring embryos back to the UK?
- Will the NHS look after me when I come home pregnant?
- Sources
IVF abroad from the UK – the short version
- Time: six to eight weeks for a donor egg cycle with frozen eggs or embryos, eight to ten with a fresh donor. One trip of two to five days for a frozen cycle, two for a fresh one.
- Scans: one or two scans of your uterine lining in the UK before you fly, at a private scan service, a UK fertility clinic that monitors patients treated elsewhere, or a partner the clinic abroad already uses.
- Medication: oestrogen and progesterone for the lining, nothing more. The clinic writes the prescription; a UK pharmacy can dispense a prescription from a doctor registered in an EEA country or Switzerland.
- HFEA: it does not regulate clinics abroad and says plainly it „can’t help if something goes wrong”. Embryos created abroad can only come back through a UK licensed clinic, and only if the donor material meets UK rules, which anonymous-donor embryos usually do not.
- Cost: €5,000 to €9,000 for the donor egg cycle, plus roughly £1,000 to £2,000 for UK tests, medication and travel. About half to two thirds of a UK donor egg cycle.
- Coming home: register the pregnancy with your GP. NHS antenatal care does not depend on where you conceived.
Why UK patients have IVF abroad in the first place
Four reasons come up again and again. Donors: in the UK they are identifiable at 18, recruitment is slow and the HFEA itself says some parts of the country have long waits, especially for patients who need a donor of a particular ethnicity. Age: most UK clinics stop donor egg treatment at 50, while Greece treats to 54 and North Cyprus to 58. Eligibility: single women and female couples are treated in Spain, Greece and Portugal without the funding and policy hurdles they meet at home. And cost: a UK donor egg cycle runs £9,000 to £12,000 all in, against €5,000 to €9,000 abroad. When IVF Media asked 1,189 patients why they went abroad, cost came first for two out of three patients from the UK and Ireland. Our guide on why British patients go abroad covers the reasons; this page is about how.
How long does IVF abroad take? The week-by-week timeline
For a donor egg cycle using frozen eggs or embryos, plan on six to eight weeks from the first consultation to the pregnancy test. A fresh donor cycle, where the donor is stimulated for you, takes eight to ten weeks because the clinic has to match and stimulate the donor first, and it usually means a second trip.
| Week | What happens | Where | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Online consultation with the clinic doctor; medical history; written treatment plan | Video call | Send previous results; ask for the plan and the full price list in writing |
| 1 to 2 | Pre-treatment tests | UK | Infectious disease screening (HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis), blood group, thyroid, a semen analysis for your partner, a transvaginal scan; a private lab or clinic charges roughly £300 to £600 |
| 2 to 3 | Donor matching | Clinic abroad | Confirm the phenotype and blood group match; sign the consents; pay the deposit |
| 3 | Prescription issued; medication sourced | UK pharmacy, or shipped by the clinic | Oestrogen tablets or patches and progesterone; the prescription must carry the prescriber’s name, registration and contact details |
| 3 to 4 | Endometrial preparation starts | Home | Oestrogen from day one or two of your cycle; the clinic sends a day-by-day schedule |
| 4 to 5 | Lining scan (the clinic usually wants 7 mm or more) | UK scan clinic | Send the report the same day; the clinic confirms the transfer date |
| 5 | Progesterone starts; in a fresh cycle the donor’s eggs are collected and fertilised | Home; clinic abroad | Book flights once the date is fixed; five days of progesterone before a day-five blastocyst transfer |
| 5 to 6 | The trip: embryo transfer | Clinic abroad | Two to five days; the transfer takes about 15 minutes with no anaesthetic |
| 6 to 7 | Two-week wait; fly home | Home | Keep taking oestrogen and progesterone; flying is fine |
| 7 to 8 | Pregnancy blood test; if positive, a scan at six to seven weeks | UK | The clinic tells you when to stop the medication, usually at 10 to 12 weeks; register with your GP |
Typical protocol at clinics in Spain, the Czech Republic, Greece and Portugal. Your clinic’s schedule will differ in the details, so treat the plan they send you as the one that counts.
Do I need a UK clinic if I have IVF abroad? Scans and blood tests at home
You need somewhere in the UK for three things: the pre-treatment blood tests, one or two scans of your lining, and the pregnancy blood test. You do not need a UK fertility clinic to run the cycle. The options are a private ultrasound service (£80 to £150 a scan), a UK fertility clinic that offers testing and scans to patients treated elsewhere (IVF Matters, for example, says its services can be used „alongside treatment elsewhere”, including at a clinic abroad, and several regional clinics do the same), your GP for the blood tests if the practice agrees, and the clinic abroad’s own list of UK partners. The bigger Spanish and Czech clinics keep such lists and will tell you who to book with. The NHS will not do monitoring for a private cycle abroad, so do not plan on it.
Where do I get the medication for a cycle abroad?
A donor egg cycle needs oestrogen and progesterone and nothing else, because the donor does the stimulation. The clinic abroad writes the prescription. UK pharmacies can legally dispense a prescription issued by a doctor registered in an EEA country or Switzerland, as long as it carries your full name and date of birth, the prescriber’s name, qualifications, contact details and address with the country, the medicine, form, strength, quantity and dosage, a signature and a date; it is valid for six months. Specialist fertility pharmacies in the UK are used to these prescriptions and will post the medication to you. Some clinics ship it themselves. Budget £150 to £400. Keep everything in your hand luggage with the clinic’s letter, and remember that progesterone pessaries and oestrogen patches are fine in cabin bags. Our page on IVF medication prices and delivery lists the pharmacies.
What does the HFEA say about IVF abroad?
Quite a lot, and it is worth reading before you sign anything. The HFEA page on fertility treatment abroad opens with the point that matters most: „We have no powers overseas so can’t help if something goes wrong.” It tells you to ask whether there is a national regulator and which laws the clinic follows, because not every country has adopted the EU quality and safety standards. On success rates it warns that „success rates can also be affected by the types of patients a clinic treats”, so ask for live births per transfer for donor egg cycles in your age group, not pregnancies. On donors it says they should be „checked for infectious diseases and their family history should be assessed”. On anonymity it reminds you that in the UK a donor-conceived person can get non-identifying information at 16 and identifying information at 18, which is not the case with an anonymous donor abroad. On embryos: single transfer is UK best practice „but not all countries take this approach”. On price: „these prices may not include fertility drugs” and other extras. And on records: „ask your clinic for a copy of your patient records, which you can give to your GP back home”. Every EU clinic in this guide works under the EU tissues and cells directive and a national regulator; the safest country table on our best-country page lists the regulator for each one.
Can I bring embryos back to the UK?
Sometimes, and only through a UK licensed clinic. The HFEA allows sperm, eggs and embryos to be imported and exported under its general direction on import and export (General Direction 0006). The UK clinic has to be satisfied that the clinic abroad is licensed or accredited and stores material safely, and imported donor material has to meet the same rules as UK donation, which means an identifiable donor, UK screening standards and UK compensation limits. In practice, embryos created abroad with an anonymous Spanish, Czech or Greek donor usually cannot be brought back for a later transfer in the UK. Most patients leave spare embryos in storage abroad, at €300 to €500 a year, and go back for a frozen transfer. Sending your own eggs or your partner’s sperm from the UK to the clinic abroad is more straightforward: a licensed courier does it, and your UK clinic will charge for the paperwork and the shipment. Ask both clinics for the fee before you commit.
How many trips, and how long each one?
| Country | Flight time from London / Manchester | Trips for a donor egg cycle | Days abroad per trip | Single trip with frozen eggs or embryos? | English-speaking coordinator | Refund or multi-cycle programmes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2.5 h / 3 h | 1 (frozen) or 2 (fresh) | 2 to 5 | Yes, most clinics | Yes | Yes, several clinics |
| Czech Republic | 2 h / 2.5 h | 1 or 2 | 2 to 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Greece | 3.5 h / 4 h | 1 or 2 | 3 to 5 | Yes | Yes | Some |
| Portugal | 2.5 h / 3 h | 1 or 2 | 3 to 5 | Yes | Yes | Some |
| North Cyprus | 4.5 h to Larnaca, or via Istanbul | 1 or 2 | 5 to 7 | Yes | Yes | Yes, packages |
Whether a clinic ships medication to the UK varies clinic by clinic, so ask. GHIC and EHIC cards do not cover planned treatment abroad. The refund and guarantee programmes page lists the clinics that offer them.
Can I fly after embryo transfer?
Yes. There is no evidence that flying in the days after a transfer lowers your chance of implantation. The embryo is not affected by cabin pressure or turbulence, and clinics abroad transfer thousands of embryos a year to patients who fly home within 24 to 48 hours. What the research does show is that bed rest does not help. A systematic review of four studies covering more than 21,000 cycles found no benefit from bed rest after transfer and a lower clinical pregnancy rate in the bed rest groups (18.7% against 25.3%); the authors concluded there is no evidence to recommend it. So: walk about on the plane, drink water, let someone else lift the suitcase, and keep your progesterone with you. One quiet evening after transfer is plenty. Our article on preparing for embryo transfer has the rest.
Time off work, travel insurance and the costs people forget
Time off work
There is no legal right to paid time off for IVF appointments in the UK; Acas advises employers to treat them like any other medical appointment. Most people use annual leave, and two to four working days per trip is typical. Once you reach the embryo transfer stage you have the same legal protection as a pregnant worker, whether or not you tell your employer, and that protection continues for two weeks after a negative test. If you are unwell after treatment, Acas says it should be treated like any other sickness. Ask the clinic for a letter; it helps.
Travel insurance
Standard travel insurance excludes planned medical treatment and, usually, anything that goes wrong because of it. Searches for travel insurance for IVF abroad have doubled in a year, which tells you how often people find this out late. A few specialist policies cover fertility travel; read the exclusions before you buy. Ask the clinic what its own complications cover includes. And know that if you do come home with a complication, the NHS will treat you regardless of where the cycle was done.
Costs UK patients forget
The clinic’s price is the big number, not the whole number. Add UK tests (£300 to £600), medication (£150 to £400), flights and three to five nights (£400 to £900 a trip), a second trip if you go back for a frozen transfer, embryo storage abroad (€300 to €500 a year), and card and currency fees. Fertility Clinics Abroad keeps an up-to-date list of headline prices by country and a cost calculator; our cost by country page has the donor egg figures.
Coming home pregnant: the first two weeks
The clinic will tell you when to stop the oestrogen and progesterone, usually at 10 to 12 weeks. Book with your GP as soon as you have a positive test and say it is an IVF pregnancy with a donor egg and a single embryo. From there you are in NHS antenatal care like anyone else. A viability scan at six to seven weeks is usually done privately, because the NHS dating scan comes at 12 weeks. If you are over 40 expect consultant-led care. NICE advises low-dose aspirin from 12 weeks for women with two or more moderate risk factors for pre-eclampsia, which include a first pregnancy and being 40 or over, and many specialists treat a donor egg pregnancy as a further reason; ask your midwife. Bring the clinic’s records with you, as the HFEA suggests. Our UK age limit guide has more on pregnancy care after 45 and 50.
If the cycle does not work
A frozen transfer of a spare embryo means one more short trip and a fraction of the cost. If there are no embryos left, the clinic should review the cycle with you: the lining, the embryo quality, whether PGT-A of remaining embryos makes sense, and whether a refund or multi-cycle programme is worth it for the next attempt. Our guide on what to do when donor egg IVF fails goes through the questions to ask.
IVF abroad – frequently asked questions
How long does IVF abroad take?
Six to eight weeks for a donor egg cycle with frozen eggs or embryos, eight to ten with a fresh donor. You spend two to five days abroad per trip.
How many times do I have to travel?
Once if the clinic uses frozen donor eggs or embryos; twice for a fresh donor cycle. The consultation and the tests are done at home.
Can I fly after embryo transfer?
Yes. Flying does not affect implantation, and bed rest has been shown not to help. Most clinics ask for one quiet evening and then let you travel.
Do I need a UK clinic if I have IVF abroad?
Not to run the cycle. You need somewhere for blood tests, one or two lining scans and the pregnancy test: a private scan service, a UK clinic that monitors patients treated abroad, or in some cases your GP.
Can I get my IVF drugs in the UK for a cycle abroad?
Yes. UK pharmacies can dispense a prescription from a doctor registered in an EEA country or Switzerland, and specialist fertility pharmacies post the medication. Some clinics ship it. A donor egg cycle needs only oestrogen and progesterone.
Is IVF abroad regulated?
Not by the HFEA. EU countries apply the EU tissues and cells rules and have national regulators; North Cyprus has its own Ministry of Health regulation. Ask the clinic which law it works under and who inspects it.
Can I bring embryos back to the UK?
Only through an HFEA-licensed clinic and only if the donor material meets UK rules, which anonymous-donor embryos usually do not. Most patients store spare embryos abroad and go back for a frozen transfer.
Will the NHS look after me when I come home pregnant?
Yes. NHS antenatal care does not depend on where you conceived. Register with your GP as soon as you have a positive test.
Sources
- HFEA, Fertility treatment abroad
- HFEA, Importing and exporting sperm, eggs and embryos and General Direction 0006
- HFEA, Egg donation: a factsheet
- Royal College of Pharmacy, Prescriptions from the EEA and Switzerland
- Acas, IVF treatment and pregnancy at work
- Live birth rate following bed rest versus early mobilization after embryo transfer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- NICE NG133, Hypertension in pregnancy (aspirin from 12 weeks for women at risk of pre-eclampsia)
- IVF Media, Seeking IVF treatment abroad: what 1,189 patients told us
- Klinikk Hausken, How IVF abroad works step by step (for the structure of a typical clinic timeline)
