IVF Gender Selection Abroad: Where It Is Legal, What It Costs and How It Works
Choosing the sex of your baby through IVF is legal in the United States and Mexico, where clinics offer it for “family balancing” as well as for medical reasons, and it is available in practice at some clinics in North Cyprus. It is banned for non-medical reasons in the UK, in every EU country, in Australia, Canada, Turkey, Thailand and India, where embryos may only be selected by sex to avoid a serious inherited condition that affects one sex. The method is the same everywhere: IVF, genetic testing of the embryos (PGT-A or PGT-M) at the blastocyst stage, and transfer of an embryo of the chosen sex. The test identifies sex with more than 99% accuracy, but it does not guarantee a pregnancy, and there may be no healthy embryo of the sex you want.
This guide explains where IVF sex selection is legal, what it costs, how it works, what can go wrong, and the questions to ask a clinic before you book. If you want to talk your options through with someone who knows the clinics and the rules, you can contact our patient support team for a free, no-obligation conversation.
IVF gender selection – key facts
- Sex selection for non-medical reasons is illegal in the UK under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, and in all EU countries. It is allowed only to avoid serious sex-linked genetic conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy or haemophilia.
- It is legal for family balancing in the United States, where there is no federal law and clinics set their own policy, and in Mexico, where rules vary by state. North Cyprus has not officially permitted it for non-medical reasons since 2016, but some clinics there will share the full PGT-A results, which include the sex of each embryo, and let the patient choose which embryo to transfer.
- The method is IVF with preimplantation genetic testing (PGT-A), which reads the sex chromosomes of each embryo with more than 99% accuracy. Sperm sorting methods are about 70-80% accurate and are rarely offered now.
- Typical all-in costs for one cycle including genetic testing: €5,000-€8,000 in North Cyprus, $10,000-$15,000 in Mexico and $20,000-$35,000 in the United States, plus medication and travel.
- Each embryo has roughly a 50% chance of being the sex you want, and not every embryo is chromosomally normal, so the chance of having a healthy embryo of the chosen sex depends on how many embryos you produce. Older patients may need more than one egg collection.
- UK clinics cannot select sex for you, but the HFEA cannot stop you travelling for treatment, and it is not an offence for a UK patient to have the procedure abroad.
Where IVF gender selection is legal
| Country | Non-medical (family balancing) | Medical reasons | Legal basis | Typical cost of IVF with sex selection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Allowed, clinic decides | Allowed | No federal or state law; ASRM guidance leaves it to clinics | $20,000-$35,000 |
| Mexico | Allowed in most states | Allowed | No federal ban; some states regulate assisted reproduction | $10,000-$15,000 |
| North Cyprus | Not officially permitted since 2016; available in practice at some clinics through disclosure of PGT-A results | Allowed | Outside the EU; the Republic of Cyprus law does not apply | €5,000-€8,000 |
| Republic of Cyprus (south) | Banned | Allowed | Law 69(I)/2015 on Medically Assisted Reproduction | Not available |
| United Kingdom | Banned | Allowed with an HFEA licence for the condition | Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, amended 2008 | Not available |
| Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Italy, Denmark and the rest of the EU | Banned | Allowed | National assisted reproduction laws; Council of Europe Oviedo Convention, Article 14 | Not available |
| Turkey | Banned | Allowed | Assisted reproduction regulation | Not available |
| Georgia | Clinic-dependent; several clinics do not offer it | Allowed | No specific ban; confirm with the clinic | $5,000-$8,000 where offered |
| Ukraine | Allowed in practice | Allowed | No ban; travel currently advised against by the UK and US governments | Not realistic at present |
| Thailand | Banned since 2015 | Allowed | Protection of Children Born through Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act | Not available |
| Australia, Canada, India | Banned | Allowed | National law or guidelines | Not available |
Legal positions checked in October 2026. Laws change and clinic policies differ. Ask any clinic to confirm in writing that the procedure is legal where it operates.
The position in North Cyprus
North Cyprus is the destination most often advertised to UK and European patients, and the picture there needs some care. Sex selection for family balancing was openly offered until 2016, when the authorities restricted it to medical reasons. Since then clinics have not been able to advertise it officially, yet many patients still have it there. The usual route is that the clinic carries out PGT-A, which tests every embryo for chromosomal problems and records whether it is XX or XY, and shares the complete results with the patient, who then decides which healthy embryo to transfer. Whether a clinic will do this, and on what terms, is something to establish directly with the clinic before you book. Our guide to IVF in Cyprus covers the other rules in the north and the south, and our team can tell you what to expect from individual clinics if you get in touch.
How IVF gender selection works
- Ovarian stimulation and egg collection. The same as any IVF cycle: 10-12 days of injections, monitoring scans, then egg collection under sedation.
- Fertilisation and culture to blastocyst. Eggs are fertilised by ICSI and the embryos grown for five or six days.
- Embryo biopsy and PGT-A. A few cells are taken from the outer layer of each blastocyst and tested. The test reports the number of chromosomes, which shows whether the embryo is chromosomally normal, and the sex chromosomes (XX or XY). Accuracy for sex is above 99%.
- Freezing. The embryos are frozen while the results come back, usually within one to two weeks.
- Frozen embryo transfer. A chromosomally normal embryo of the chosen sex is thawed and transferred in a later cycle. Any remaining embryos stay in storage.
Because the transfer happens in a second cycle, patients from abroad usually make two trips: one of 5-7 days for stimulation and egg collection (or a shorter trip if monitoring is done at home), and one of 2-3 days for the transfer. Some clinics in North Cyprus and Mexico offer treatment with donor eggs and sex selection in a single trip.
Older methods, sperm sorting (MicroSort, Ericsson) followed by insemination, shift the odds to about 70-80% rather than selecting an embryo, and most clinics no longer offer them. Any clinic advertising “gender selection by IUI” is offering this less reliable method.
What it costs
| Country | IVF with PGT-A and sex selection | Usually extra |
|---|---|---|
| North Cyprus | €5,000-€8,000 package (IVF, ICSI, PGT-A on up to 6-8 embryos, one frozen transfer) | Medication €1,000-€2,000, further embryos tested, second trip, accommodation |
| Mexico | $10,000-$15,000 | Medication, frozen transfer at some clinics, travel |
| United States | $20,000-$35,000 (IVF $12,000-$20,000 plus PGT-A $4,000-$7,000 plus FET) | Medication $3,000-$8,000; rarely covered by insurance |
PGT-A is priced per embryo or per batch, so the final bill depends on how many embryos reach the blastocyst stage. Ask for the price per extra embryo before you start. A second egg collection, if the first produces no healthy embryo of the chosen sex, usually costs the full package price again, although some clinics offer a discount.
What can go wrong
- No embryo of the sex you want. Each embryo has roughly a 50% chance of being male or female. With two chromosomally normal embryos the chance that at least one is the chosen sex is 75%; with four it is about 94%. Women over 38 produce fewer normal embryos, so the odds of needing a second cycle are higher.
- No chromosomally normal embryo at all. The share of abnormal embryos rises with age: around a third at 35 and more than half by 40.
- The transfer fails. Transferring a tested embryo gives a live birth rate of roughly 50-60% per transfer at good clinics, and lower in older patients.
- Embryos of the other sex. Decide before you start what happens to them: storage, donation, use in a later cycle, or disposal. Clinics have different rules and storage fees.
- Legal exposure. Having the procedure abroad is not an offence for UK or EU patients, but a UK clinic cannot arrange it for you, and some countries’ clinics operate in a legal grey area. Choose clinics that state the legal basis openly.
The HFEA rates PGT-A as a “red” add-on for improving IVF success, meaning there is no good evidence that it increases the chance of a birth. For sex selection it is used as a diagnostic test, not a success booster, but the biopsy still carries a small risk to the embryo.
Choosing a clinic
Ask every clinic these questions in writing before you pay a deposit:
- Is sex selection for family balancing legal in your country, and under which law or regulation?
- Which test do you use (PGT-A by next-generation sequencing is the standard), and which laboratory runs it?
- What is included in the package: ICSI, the number of embryos tested, freezing, the first frozen transfer, medication?
- What do I pay if there is no suitable embryo, and what discount applies to a second cycle?
- What are your live birth rates per frozen transfer of a tested embryo, by age group?
- What happens to embryos of the other sex?
We do not list clinics for sex selection on this site, because the legal position differs from country to country and, in North Cyprus, from clinic to clinic. If you would like to know which clinics in which countries are realistic for you, contact our patient support team and we will talk you through the options. Our guides to IVF in Cyprus and IVF in Mexico cover the other rules in those countries, and our guide to IVF abroad by country explains why Spain, Greece, the Czech Republic and the other EU destinations cannot offer it.
Sex selection for medical reasons
Where a couple carries a condition linked to the X chromosome, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, haemophilia or fragile X syndrome, selecting female embryos avoids passing on the disease. This is legal in the UK, the EU and almost every other country, and in the UK it is funded by the NHS in many areas. The test used is PGT-M, which looks for the specific gene fault as well as the sex. UK clinics need an HFEA licence for the particular condition; the HFEA publishes the list of approved conditions. If you are in this situation, ask your GP for a referral to a clinical genetics service rather than travelling abroad.
Talk to our team
If you are thinking about IVF with sex selection abroad and want an independent view on which countries and clinics are realistic for your age, budget and circumstances, contact our patient support team. The service is free, there is no obligation, and we will tell you plainly if we think the odds or the legal position do not justify the trip.
Is gender selection legal in the UK?
No, not for non-medical reasons. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act allows embryos to be selected by sex only to avoid a serious condition linked to one sex, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy or haemophilia, and the clinic needs an HFEA licence for that condition. UK patients who want sex selection for family balancing travel to the United States or Mexico, or to North Cyprus, where some clinics make it possible in practice.
Which countries allow gender selection with IVF?
The United States and Mexico allow sex selection for family balancing. North Cyprus has not officially permitted it for non-medical reasons since 2016, but some clinics there share full PGT-A results, including the sex of each embryo, and let the patient choose. Georgia and Ukraine have no ban, but availability depends on the clinic and travel to Ukraine is currently advised against. The UK, every EU country, the Republic of Cyprus, Turkey, Thailand, Australia, Canada and India ban it for non-medical reasons.
How much does IVF gender selection cost?
About €5,000-€8,000 for a package in North Cyprus, $10,000-$15,000 in Mexico and $20,000-$35,000 in the United States. The package usually covers IVF, ICSI, genetic testing of a set number of embryos and one frozen transfer. Medication, extra embryos tested, a second trip and accommodation come on top.
How accurate is IVF gender selection?
Genetic testing of the embryo (PGT-A) identifies the sex chromosomes with more than 99% accuracy. The uncertainty is not in the test but in whether you will have a chromosomally normal embryo of the sex you want, and whether the transfer leads to a pregnancy. Sperm sorting methods are only about 70-80% accurate.
How successful is IVF with gender selection?
Transferring a tested, chromosomally normal embryo gives a live birth rate of roughly 50-60% per transfer at good clinics, lower for older patients. Before that, you need at least one normal embryo of the chosen sex: with two normal embryos the chance is 75%, with four about 94%. Women over 38 are more likely to need a second egg collection.
Can I choose the sex of my baby in Spain, Greece or the Czech Republic?
No. All EU countries ban sex selection for non-medical reasons under their national laws and the Council of Europe's Oviedo Convention. Clinics there can test embryos for chromosomal problems and will know the sex, but they cannot choose an embryo on that basis unless there is a serious sex-linked condition in the family.
Is it legal to go abroad for gender selection from the UK?
Yes. It is not an offence for a UK patient to have the procedure in a country where it is legal, and the HFEA has no power over clinics abroad. A UK clinic cannot arrange or carry out non-medical sex selection for you, and a child conceived abroad has the same legal status as any other.
What happens to the embryos of the other sex?
It depends on the clinic and the country. Options are storage for a later pregnancy, donation to another patient or to research where the law allows, or disposal. Decide before treatment starts and get the clinic's policy and storage fees in writing.
Sources
- HFEA – Pre-implantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M) and HFEA – Treatment add-ons
- Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
- Council of Europe – Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention), Article 14
- ASRM Ethics Committee – Use of reproductive technology for sex selection for nonmedical reasons
- PlacidWay – Is gender selection legal in Cyprus? (Republic of Cyprus Law 69(I)/2015)
- Cyprus IVF Centre – IVF gender selection in Cyprus (clinic pricing)
- CNY Fertility – Gender selection with IVF: treatment details and cost and Pacific Fertility Center Los Angeles – IVF and gender selection (US clinic pricing)
- NOW-fertility – Can I have IVF for gender selection in Europe?
This article describes the legal position and the procedure. It does not recommend sex selection for non-medical reasons, which remains ethically contested and is prohibited in most of Europe.
