Not everything that is possible is allowed everywhere. Each country has its own laws for singles who want to have children. If you are considering artificial insemination, you need to understand them. You can read about the legal situation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland here.

Germany

Permitted and prohibited

In Germany, single people who want to have children can also undergo artificial insemination. They can go to a clinic abroad or have sperm donated by a foreign sperm bank or a known donor to fulfil their desire for a child.

Not all treatments to fulfil a wish for a child are allowed in Germany. What is allowed and what is not is regulated by the Embryo Protection Act (ESchG). Under current German law, the following options are not permitted:

• Surrogacy. Another person cannot carry your child. You are also not allowed to carry a child for someone else.
• Egg donation. You cannot donate your eggs to another person or have eggs donated to you by another person.
• Embryo donation. You cannot donate embryos to another person or have embryos donated to you by another person.

You yourself will not be punished for having one of these things done to you. For example, the person from whom the egg or embryo comes will not be punished. However, the medical staff who carry out these treatments will get into trouble. If you want to use one of these methods, you should go abroad. That way you can be sure that no one will get in trouble with German law.

Artificial insemination and sperm donation

Artificial insemination using donor sperm is legal in Germany. However, the German Reproductive Medicine Act of 1990 does not explicitly regulate sperm donation. As a result, not all doctors and fertility centres offer sperm donation to single women and many women travel abroad.

Children conceived through sperm donation are entitled to know who donated the sperm from the age of 16. This is called the right to know one's parentage. For this purpose, the details of the sperm donors are entered in a central register. This register is called the sperm donor registry. The data of donors and recipients will be kept there for at least 110 years. You will also be entered in the registry if you decide to donate sperm. Anonymous sperm donation is therefore not possible in Germany.

If your child is under 16, you can request that your child meets the sperm donor. Your child will then be allowed to know something about the donor, but not you. However, your child is not yet legally entitled to this information. They will have to wait until they are 16. From then on, they are entitled to the information in writing.

There must also be someone to acknowledge paternity. In the past, the authorities could force the doctor who carried out the artificial insemination to do this. According to the law, he was the one who caused the pregnancy. If this happened, he could, for example, have to pay maintenance for the resulting child.

The law changed in 2017. So it's not quite as dangerous for doctors now. But many doctors are still afraid. That is why they are still reluctant to perform artificial insemination on single people.

The legal situation in Germany varies from state to state. It is therefore worth finding out about the regulations in your federal state. This will help you to plan in which federal state you would like to be inseminated.

Surrogacy in Germany

Surrogacy is prohibited by law in Germany. Similar to Austria and Switzerland, the legal consequences primarily affect the doctors and counsellors who provide assistance, rather than the intended parents themselves. Because of these legal restrictions, couples seeking surrogacy often seek advice and assistance in countries such as the USA, Canada, Ukraine and now Northern Cyprus.

Austria

Artificial insemination

In Austria, single people are not allowed to have artificial insemination. This is regulated by the Reproductive Medicine Act. Same-sex couples can have artificial insemination in Austria.

The way out of Austria and abroad

You can still have a child as a single person. However, you will have to travel abroad.

After fertilisation, Austrian doctors are allowed to look after you. They are also allowed to carry out the preparatory examinations. They are not allowed to carry out the operation themselves.

However, these doctors or fertility counsellors are allowed to refer you to foreign clinics. Foreign fertility clinics are equipped to deal with foreign patients and speak several foreign languages.

However, if you are planning to donate abroad, you should find out about the laws in that country. Not all countries allow single men to donate sperm. Well-known countries include Spain, Denmark and Northern Cyprus.

Surrogacy in Austria

Surrogacy is illegal in Austria. As in Germany, it is not you who are punished, but the doctors and counsellors who assist you. For this reason, couples with this wish seek counselling in the USA, Canada, Ukraine and now Northern Cyprus.

Egg donation

Egg donation has been legal in Austria since 2015, when the law on reproductive medicine was reformed. This means that the child conceived through egg donation has the right to information about the donor. However, the child must have reached the age of 14. Unfortunately, egg donation is not allowed for single women. More information: https://eizellspendeninfos.de/eizellspende-in-deutschland/eizellspende-in-oesterreich/

Switzerland

Artificial insemination in Switzerland

The situation in Switzerland is similar to that in Germany and Austria: only mixed-sex couples are allowed to undergo artificial insemination. It is therefore forbidden for singles. From 2022, same-sex couples will be allowed to use open sperm donation. This is regulated by the Swiss law on reproductive medicine.

Getting out of the country and abroad

Here, too, many people take a detour abroad. In Switzerland there are doctors and counsellors who can help you get pregnant. However, there are many doctors here who do not recommend artificial insemination for single people. So don't be disappointed if your first discussions with doctors don't go as you would like. But don't give up and try to find a doctor or counsellor who will support you in your desire to have a child.

Changes in the laws

This could change in the coming years. There are already some organisations that criticise the Swiss law on reproductive medicine. They think it discriminates against single people. So it's worth keeping up to date.

Surrogacy in Switzerland

Unfortunately, in Switzerland, as in Germany and Austria, you will not get any help with surrogacy, because the professionals can be sentenced to prison (but not the surrogate or the intended mother). Therefore, as a single person, you will always have to travel abroad to get help. Typical destinations where surrogacy is allowed for single people are the USA, Canada, Ukraine and now Northern Cyprus.

Egg donation

As in Germany, egg donation is permitted for all women, not just single women. However, doctors and fertility counsellors are increasingly working with clinics abroad. If you cannot find a doctor who is willing to help you try for a baby, you can change doctors or fertility counsellors.