What is the price of IVF with sperm donation in Spain?
The price of IVF with sperm donation in Spain ranges from £4,300 to £6,400, against £5,200 in the UK. This fee covers stimulation, sedation anaesthesia and access to the sperm bank. The egg collection takes 20 minutes as a day case, with no overnight stay.
📊 Price table 2026
| Type of treatment | Price Spain | Price UK |
|---|---|---|
| IVF + Sperm donation (ICSI) | £4,300 - £5,600 | £4,500 - £6,500 |
| Artificial insemination (IAD) | £1,000 - £1,500 | £1,200 - £2,200 |
| IVF + Sperm donation + PGT-A | £6,400 - £8,100 | £7,000 - £9,500 |
| Frozen embryo transfer (FET) | £1,300 - £2,200 | £1,800 - £3,000 |
If you want to know what your own cover provides in your situation, the NHS is the place to check.
What is donor artificial insemination?
Donor artificial insemination (DI) is the process of inseminating a woman with sperm from a licensed bank. In Spain, this donation is anonymous[1]. The procedure is usually carried out in natural cycles, without fertility drugs. Medication may be offered to those who have not achieved pregnancy in a natural cycle, to increase the number of eggs available for fertilisation.
If insemination with donor sperm has not succeeded, or if other fertility factors make it necessary, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) with donor sperm can be carried out.
Who uses donor sperm
People who may choose to use donor sperm include:
- Single women and lesbians
- Those whose male partner has no retrievable sperm
- Those who want backup samples for difficult cases of male infertility
In Spain, all sperm donors are anonymous: the law requires the donation to be anonymous and the donor’s identity to remain confidential[1]. The recipient therefore does not choose her donor. The medical team selects him, looking for the closest possible phenotypic and immunological match[1].
Can you use a known donor?
No, not in Spain. Asking a friend or relative to donate sperm is common in countries where directed donation is allowed and the donor’s identity is known. Spanish law rules it out, and replaces it with three rules:
- Compulsory anonymity. The law requires the donation to be anonymous and the donors’ identities to remain confidential[1].
- Selection by the medical team. The donor can under no circumstances be personally selected at the recipient’s request[1].
- Six children maximum. A single donor cannot father more than six children born in Spain[1].
Using an anonymous donor
Patients who use anonymous donor sperm obtain frozen samples from licensed sperm banks.
In Spain, the recipient and the child born from the donation have the right to receive general information about the donor, but not his identity[1]. No future contact is planned and no Spanish bank offers disclosure of identity. It can only be lifted in exceptional circumstances, where the child’s life or health is at risk, or in criminal proceedings[1].
How the sperm bank process works
Certified sperm banks must meet specific requirements for donor selection. To eliminate virtually any risk of disease transmission, the sperm is quarantined.
During this process, the donor is screened for infectious diseases. The donated sperm is then frozen and stored at the sperm bank for six months. The donor is tested again for infectious diseases before the sperm is supplied to clinics and patients.
In Spain, the clinic sources sperm from licensed banks, and donor selection is handled by its medical team[1]. The patient does not buy the sample herself from a bank.
There is no donor list that patients can browse in Spanish clinics. Matching is based on the recipient’s physical and immunological characteristics, and the result is not negotiable[1].
Blood group is one of the characteristics the medical team takes into account in matching, alongside physical characteristics[1]. This choice belongs to the centre, not to the couple.
The number of motile sperm cells per straw varies from one bank to another after thawing. In Spain, this parameter is handled by the clinic’s laboratory, which checks the sample before insemination: it is not negotiated by the patient.
Are sperm donors paid in Spain?
No. Spanish law bans any profit-making or commercial element in gamete donation[1]. The compensation paid strictly covers the physical inconvenience, travel costs and loss of earnings linked to the donation, and it cannot amount to a financial incentive.
Sperm donation and IUI
Most patients trying to conceive with donor sperm start with intrauterine insemination (IUI). Particularly if the patient is young and ovulates regularly, the fertility clinic will give you a home test kit to detect the LH surge that indicates ovulation; it will then thaw the sperm and carry out the insemination accordingly.
Other patients may take fertility drugs such as clomiphene, letrozole or gonadotrophins alongside IUI. The aim of using these drugs is to trigger ovulation in women who do not ovulate regularly, or to recruit several eggs (superovulation) in order to increase the chances of fertilisation.
What should you expect from donor insemination?
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is most often carried out in fertility clinics in Spain or in the UK, because the chances of conception are higher when the timing of exposure to sperm is controlled and when a larger number of sperm cells is placed closer to the egg or eggs.
Donated sperm is delivered directly to the clinic in frozen form, and stored that way until the day of insemination. On the day of the procedure, the laboratory thaws the sperm vial or vials, performs a count and assesses the percentage of motile (normal, moving) sperm cells in the sample before carrying out the insemination.
Risks of donor insemination
The risks of donor insemination are the same as those of any type of intrauterine insemination, which include infection, uterine cramps, ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage. The risk of infection is extremely low. Cramps are unusual and, when they occur, very mild.
Sperm donation and IVF
If several IUI attempts have not led to pregnancy, or if other female factors are present, IVF with sperm donation may be recommended. Donor sperm is always used frozen and then thawed, with the six-month quarantine being compulsory before it can be released.
When a frozen sperm sample is thawed, embryologists analyse it. If the concentration and/or motility of the sperm cells is low, the embryologist may recommend thawing a second vial, or decide to carry out ICSI and inject the sperm cells directly into the eggs.
Donor sperm can also be used as a backup solution in cases of very severe male infertility. In such cases, a urologist will first try to retrieve sperm surgically from the male partner’s testicle or testicles. In the rare cases where the retrieved sperm is not enough to inseminate the partner’s eggs, we may recommend that donor sperm be available as a reserve.
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
How much does IVF with sperm donation cost in Spain?
Budget £4,300 to £6,400 in Spain, against £5,200 in the UK. Double donation IVF sits higher. Donor insemination alone ranges from £1,000 to £1,500. Stimulation drugs are charged separately.
Is fertility treatment open to single women in Spain?
Yes. Spanish law opens these techniques to any woman who is a legal adult, “whatever her marital status and sexual orientation”[1]. Female couples can also use the ROPA method, where one partner carries the embryo created from the other’s egg.
Do you need your partner’s consent?
If the recipient is married, Spanish law also requires her husband’s consent, unless they are legally or de facto separated[1]. No such consent is required from a single woman, or from a woman in a relationship with another woman.
What information do you get about the donor?
General information, never his identity[1]. The child born from the donation has the same right, either personally or through legal representatives. The medical team also looks for the closest possible physical match with the recipient couple.
How many children can be born from the same donor?
Six at most. Spanish law caps at six the number of children born in Spain from the gametes of a single donor[1]. The donor must declare any previous donations, and the centre is required to verify that declaration.
Why travel to Spain rather than wait in the UK?
Demand on the Spanish side is met by clinics with their own licensed banks. In the UK, sperm donor waiting lists and eligibility criteria can add months to the process, and treatment with donor sperm is often limited to a set number of funded cycles. Spanish clinics can usually start within weeks.
Is sperm donation carried out in Spain reimbursed in the UK?
That depends on your own situation. Fertility treatment abroad is not routinely funded by the NHS, and any cover depends on your clinical commissioning and your private policy. Check with the NHS before you book.
Sources & References
- Espagne. Ley 14/2006, de 26 de mayo, sobre técnicas de reproducción humana asistida (articles 5.3, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 6.1, 6.3 et 6.5). 2006. View the source
- Agence de la biomédecine. Rapport médical et scientifique 2023 - Don de spermatozoïdes. 2023. View the source
- Assurance Maladie. Assistance médicale à la procréation réalisée en UE ou en Suisse : votre prise en charge. 2026. View the source
