IVF in Vietnam: Laws, Process & What Foreigners Should Know
IVF in Vietnam is governed by Decree 207/2025/ND-CP, which took effect on 1 October 2025 and replaced Decree 10/2015 and Decree 98/2016. The decree allows assisted reproduction for infertile married couples, couples with a medical reason, and single women who want it. For foreigners, the sources disagree. The US State Department says one or both parents must be a Vietnamese citizen. The decree text we read ties nationality only to people who receive donor eggs. This guide shows each source in its own words, the official price ranges for single steps, and how to check a centre.
Short answer
- Which law applies?
- Decree 207/2025/ND-CP, in force since 1 October 2025. It ended Decree 10/2015 and Decree 98/2016. Pages that still cite Decree 10/2015 as the current rule are out of date.
- Can a foreigner have IVF?
- Unclear, because the sources differ. The US State Department says one or both parents must be a Vietnamese citizen. The decree ties nationality only to donor egg recipients. Confirm with a licensed centre and a Vietnamese lawyer.
- What does it cost?
- We found no official price for a full cycle. Circular 21/2023 set state facility ranges for single steps in November 2023, such as 7,142,000 to 8,181,000 dong for egg collection.
- Is surrogacy allowed?
- Only unpaid, humanitarian surrogacy, and only when all the conditions in the Law on Marriage and Family are met, including that the surrogate is a close relative. Commercial surrogacy is banned. The US State Department says surrogacy is generally illegal for foreigners.
Sources: Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); US Department of State, Vietnam travel advisory, Health, ART and surrogacy; Ministry of Health Circular 21/2023/TT-BYT; Law on Marriage and Family, consolidated text 121/VBHN-VPQH
What law governs IVF in Vietnam?
Decree 207/2025/ND-CP is the current rule. It covers childbirth by assisted reproduction and the conditions for humanitarian surrogacy. It took effect on 1 October 2025.
Article 15(2) of the decree ended the older rules on the day it took effect. First on that list is Decree 10/2015, signed on 28 January 2015. Decree 98/2016 is next. A page that still cites Decree 10/2015 as the current rule is out of date.
Two other texts sit beside the decree. The Law on Marriage and Family sets the bans and the conditions for a surrogate. Ministry of Health Circular 38/2025 gives the details of how the decree works. We quote the Official Gazette copies of each, not a summary by a law firm or clinic.
Sources: Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); Law on Marriage and Family, consolidated text 121/VBHN-VPQH; Ministry of Health Circular 38/2025/TT-BYT
Who can have IVF in Vietnam?
Married couples who are infertile or have a medical reason, and single women who want it. That is the rule in Decree 207/2025.
The decree says assisted reproduction is done only for these groups. It names infertile married couples and married couples with a medical reason (a medical indication). It also names single women who wish to have it.
The US State Department puts it more simply. It says IVF is available to married couples and single women in Vietnam. We found no age limit in Decree 207 or in Circular 38/2025. Circular 38 sets health standards for people who receive treatment, but we did not find an age in it.
Sources: Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); US Department of State, Vietnam travel advisory, Health, ART and surrogacy; Ministry of Health Circular 38/2025/TT-BYT
Can foreigners have IVF in Vietnam?
The official sources do not agree, and we found no Vietnamese official text that settles it. Here is what each one says.
The US State Department says: "One or both parents must be a Vietnamese citizen to conduct IVF in Vietnam." This is advice for US travellers on its Vietnam page.
Decree 207/2025 has one rule tied to nationality, in the text we read. It is in Article 5(2), and it covers donor eggs only. A person who receives donor eggs must be Vietnamese or of Vietnamese origin, or a foreigner whose husband is Vietnamese or of Vietnamese origin. Nationality is not the only condition: she must also be the wife in a couple being treated for infertility caused by her having no eggs or eggs that are not good enough to conceive. We found no line in the decree that ties IVF with a couple's own eggs and sperm to nationality.
Circular 38/2025 shows that foreigners can appear in the records. It says the shared national database on assisted reproduction records a passport number for a foreigner. This covers donors, people who receive sperm, eggs or embryos, and surrogates. It does not say which foreigners may be treated.
So the State Department line is stricter than the decree text. We could not find an official Vietnamese answer to the gap. If you are not Vietnamese, ask the licensed centre in writing whether it can treat you, and check with a Vietnamese lawyer.
Sources: US Department of State, Vietnam travel advisory, Health, ART and surrogacy; Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); Ministry of Health Circular 38/2025/TT-BYT
Side by side: what the decree, the US and the UK say
Three official sources speak to IVF and surrogacy in Vietnam, and they do not say the same thing. This table keeps each one in its own column so the gaps stay visible.
| Topic | Vietnamese law | US State Department | UK Passport Office staff guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who may have IVF | Infertile married couples, married couples with a medical reason, and single women who want it. | Married couples and single women. | Not covered in the line we read. |
| Foreigners | Ties nationality to one group only, in the text we read: a person receiving donor eggs must be Vietnamese, of Vietnamese origin, or a foreigner whose husband is Vietnamese or of Vietnamese origin, and she must also be the wife in a couple being treated for infertility caused by her having no eggs or eggs that are not good enough to conceive (Article 5(2)). | One or both parents must be a Vietnamese citizen to do IVF in Vietnam. | Not covered in the line we read. |
| Donation | Sperm and embryos are given and received anonymously. The sentence does not name eggs. | Sperm, egg and embryo donations must be anonymous. | Not covered in the line we read. |
| Surrogacy | Humanitarian, unpaid surrogacy only, and only when all the conditions in the Law on Marriage and Family are met, including that the surrogate is a close relative. It bans commercial surrogacy. | Strictly regulated and generally illegal for foreigners. Only unpaid (altruistic) surrogacy is allowed, and the surrogate must be a relative. | Surrogacy is legal in Vietnam. Commercial surrogacy is illegal. |
The UK line comes from guidance written for HM Passport Office staff, not advice for patients. It is short, and it covers surrogacy only.
Sources: Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); Law on Marriage and Family, consolidated text 121/VBHN-VPQH; US Department of State, Vietnam travel advisory, Health, ART and surrogacy; GOV.UK (HM Passport Office), Vietnam knowledge base profile
Can you use donor eggs, sperm or embryos in Vietnam?
Yes, but the conditions differ by donation type under Decree 207/2025. Donated sperm and embryos must be anonymous between donor and recipient. Donor eggs may go only to the recipients the decree names, and those recipients must meet nationality, marriage and medical conditions.
The decree says sperm and embryos are given and received anonymously between donor and recipient. That sentence names sperm and embryos. It does not name eggs. The US State Department says sperm, egg and embryo donations must all be anonymous.
For donor eggs, the decree limits who may receive them, and nationality is not the only condition. The recipient must be Vietnamese or of Vietnamese origin, or a foreigner whose husband is Vietnamese or of Vietnamese origin. She must also be the wife in a couple being treated for infertility, where the infertility is because she has no eggs or eggs that are not good enough to conceive (Article 5(2)). A foreign couple with no Vietnamese link falls outside that line.
Sources: Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); US Department of State, Vietnam travel advisory, Health, ART and surrogacy
What does Vietnamese law ban?
Choosing a baby's sex, paid surrogacy and IVF for commercial purposes are among the banned acts.
Article 5(2)(g) of the Law on Marriage and Family lists them. It bans childbirth by assisted reproduction for commercial purposes, surrogacy for commercial purposes, choosing the sex of a foetus, and cloning. A clinic that offers to pick your baby's sex is offering something this law bans.
Sources: Law on Marriage and Family, consolidated text 121/VBHN-VPQH
Is surrogacy legal in Vietnam?
Only humanitarian, unpaid surrogacy is legal, and only when every condition in the Law on Marriage and Family is met, including that the surrogate is a close relative. Commercial surrogacy is banned. For foreigners, the US says it is generally illegal.
The surrogate. Article 95(3) of the Law on Marriage and Family sets conditions she must all meet. She must be a close relative of the wife or husband, of the same generation. She must have given birth before, and she may be a surrogate only once. She must be of a suitable age, with a competent medical body confirming she can carry the pregnancy. If she has a husband, he must give written consent. She must also have had medical, legal and psychological counselling. Decree 207 lists who counts as a same generation relative. It names brothers and sisters, including half brothers and half sisters, and first cousins of the husband or wife.
The couple. Article 95 sets conditions the couple must all meet. The surrogacy must be voluntary for each party and set down in writing. A competent medical body must confirm that the wife cannot carry a pregnancy and give birth even with assisted reproduction. The couple must have no child together, which they declare on the request form in Decree 207. They must also have had medical, legal and psychological counselling.
The facility. Not every IVF centre may offer surrogacy. Under Article 12(1) of the decree, a facility needs at least two years of IVF experience, and in each of the two years before it applies it must have carried out at least 500 IVF cycles that year. Article 12 also requires named medical, psychological and legal counsellors. The Minister of Health, Defence or Public Security decides on permission for the facilities under them.
What foreign governments say. The US State Department says surrogacy is strictly regulated and generally illegal for foreigners in Vietnam. It says only unpaid (altruistic) surrogacy is allowed and the surrogate must be a relative. UK Passport Office staff guidance says surrogacy is legal in Vietnam and commercial surrogacy is illegal. The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) strongly advises specialist independent legal advice, both in the UK and in the other country, before making any surrogacy arrangement.
This page is not legal advice. Your home country's rules on a child's citizenship may also matter, and we did not research them.
Sources: Law on Marriage and Family, consolidated text 121/VBHN-VPQH; Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); US Department of State, Vietnam travel advisory, Health, ART and surrogacy; GOV.UK (HM Passport Office), Vietnam knowledge base profile; GOV.UK (FCDO), Surrogacy overseas
Which places may do IVF in Vietnam?
Only a hospital licensed in obstetrics and gynaecology can be allowed to do IVF. A general clinic does not qualify.
Decree 207/2025 says the facility must hold an operating licence as a hospital with an obstetrics and gynaecology scope. The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment adds a wider rule. Any clinic or hospital may operate only once the competent authority has granted it an operating licence.
Is there an official list of IVF centres? We could not find a current official list we could read. The Ministry of Health English pages did not load when we tried, and we did not find one on the Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi health department sites. So this page gives no count of centres and names none.
A Ministry decision is not the only paper that matters. In January 2025 the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health inspected a hospital doing IVF. The Ministry had recognised the hospital for IVF. But its list of approved IVF techniques had not been approved. The inspection also found staff who were not fully registered to practise, and ads that had not been approved. We do not name the hospital. The lesson is to ask for both the licence and the approved technique list.
Sources: Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, consolidated text 26/VBHN-VPQH; Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, inspection notice, January 2025
What to check before you book
Each item below comes from a Vietnamese law, a city health department or a UK regulator. The right-hand column says who.
| Ask for | Why | Who says so |
|---|---|---|
| The operating licence | A clinic or hospital may operate only once the competent authority has granted it an operating licence. | Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, Article 49 |
| That it is a hospital licensed in obstetrics and gynaecology | Decree 207 says IVF permission goes only to a facility licensed as a hospital with an obstetrics and gynaecology scope. | Decree 207/2025 |
| The approved IVF technique list, not only a recognition decision | In January 2025 the city found a hospital that the Ministry had recognised for IVF, but whose IVF technique list had not been approved. | Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health |
| That the doctors are registered to practise | The same inspection found staff who were not fully registered to practise. Ho Chi Minh City has a public search for practitioners and facilities. | Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health |
| The whole package price in writing | Low IVF prices abroad may leave out fertility drugs and essential steps such as blood tests or a first consultation. | HFEA (UK regulator) |
| How success rates were worked out | A clinic may show data only for women under 35, or count pregnancies rather than births. | HFEA (UK regulator) |
| Legal advice before any surrogacy plan | Get specialist independent legal advice in the UK and in the other country before making any arrangement. | UK FCDO |
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Health lookup at thongtin.medinet.org.vn offers three searches: medical practitioner, medical facility and cosmetic facility. We did not confirm a lookup for other cities for this page. For hospitals in each city, see our guides to hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, hospitals in Hanoi and Da Nang hospitals.
The UK regulator, the HFEA, gives one more reason to check. It says it has no powers overseas, so it cannot help if something goes wrong.
Sources: Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, consolidated text 26/VBHN-VPQH; Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, inspection notice, January 2025; Ho Chi Minh City health lookup (thongtin.medinet.org.vn); HFEA, Fertility treatment abroad; GOV.UK (FCDO), Surrogacy overseas
How much does IVF cost in Vietnam?
We found no official price for a full IVF cycle in Vietnam. The only official figures we found are price ranges for single steps at state facilities.
Ministry of Health Circular 21/2023 set price frames for medical services at state facilities in November 2023. Its Appendix III gives a minimum and a maximum price, in dong, for each service. Three IVF steps are in the table below. We could not confirm whether these ranges still apply unchanged today.
| Step | Name in the circular | Minimum (dong) | Maximum (dong) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egg collection (oocyte retrieval) | Chọc hút noãn | 7,142,000 | 8,181,000 |
| ICSI (a single sperm injected into an egg) | Tiêm tinh trùng vào bào tương của noãn (ICSI) | 6,253,000 | 7,168,000 |
| Embryo transfer, or transfer of embryos or gametes into the fallopian tube | Chuyển phôi hoặc chuyển phôi giao tử vào vòi tử cung | 3,899,000 | 4,468,000 |
We did not add these up. They are separate steps, a cycle has other parts, and the table leaves out drugs and tests. Article 1 of the circular says the frames are for state facilities. A private clinic is not bound by them.
The HFEA, the UK regulator, warns about low prices abroad. It says they may not include fertility drugs or other essential steps, such as blood tests or a first consultation. Ask for the whole package price in writing. For cover, see our health insurance in Vietnam guide and travel insurance for Vietnam guide for what cover looks like.
Sources: Ministry of Health Circular 21/2023/TT-BYT; HFEA, Fertility treatment abroad
How long does IVF take?
The NHS says a full IVF cycle takes around 3 to 6 weeks. That is a UK figure for one cycle.
We found no Vietnamese official figure for how long a cycle takes. If you plan to travel for treatment, ask the centre for its own timeline for each step.
Sources: NHS, IVF
What are IVF success rates in Vietnam?
We found no Vietnamese government or WHO figure for IVF success in Vietnam, so this page gives none.
The HFEA says to be careful when a clinic abroad claims very high success rates. There are many ways to present the data. A clinic may show data only for women under 35. Or its data may count pregnancies rather than births. Ask how any figure you are shown was worked out.
Sources: HFEA, Fertility treatment abroad
What we could and could not confirm
This page was built from written records, not from a visit to a clinic. We read every record in October 2026. The first list is what we could confirm.
- Decree 207/2025 in the Official Gazette, including the date it took effect and the older decrees it ended.
- The Law on Marriage and Family in its 2025 consolidated text, and Circular 38/2025 of the Ministry of Health.
- The Circular 21/2023 price ranges for three IVF steps at state facilities, read with a second tool because the page sends compressed text.
- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health inspection notice of January 2025 and the city lookup page.
- The US State Department Vietnam page (read in a browser), the UK Passport Office Vietnam profile, the FCDO surrogacy page, the HFEA and the NHS.
The second list is what we could not confirm.
- A current official list or count of licensed IVF centres. Search results pointed to Ministry pages we could not open or date, so we used no figure from them.
- An official price for a whole IVF cycle at any clinic.
- Official IVF success rates for Vietnam.
- Whether a foreign couple may use their own eggs and sperm. The decree and the US State Department differ, and we found no Vietnamese official explanation.
- An age limit. We found none in Decree 207 or Circular 38/2025.
- Rules on egg freezing for travellers, and an embassy list of English speaking fertility doctors. The Australian government pages could not be read from our system.
We did not visit a clinic or speak to a doctor or lawyer for this page.
IVF in Vietnam questions
How much does it cost to do IVF in Vietnam?+
We found no official price for a full IVF cycle in Vietnam. The only official figures we found are Ministry of Health price ranges for single steps at state facilities, set by Circular 21/2023 in November 2023: egg collection 7,142,000 to 8,181,000 dong, ICSI 6,253,000 to 7,168,000 dong, and embryo transfer 3,899,000 to 4,468,000 dong. These do not apply to private clinics and are not a cycle price.
How much is 3 rounds of IVF?+
No official source we read gives a price for one round of IVF in Vietnam, so there is no official figure for three. The Ministry of Health price ranges cover single steps at state facilities only. The UK regulator, the HFEA, warns that low quoted prices may leave out fertility drugs, blood tests or the first consultation, so ask for the whole package price in writing.
Can foreigners do IVF in Vietnam?+
The sources disagree. The US State Department says one or both parents must be a Vietnamese citizen to do IVF in Vietnam. Decree 207/2025, in the text we read, ties nationality only to people receiving donor eggs: they must be Vietnamese, of Vietnamese origin, or a foreigner whose husband is Vietnamese or of Vietnamese origin. Confirm your case with a licensed centre and a Vietnamese lawyer.
Can a single woman have IVF in Vietnam?+
Yes. Decree 207/2025 says assisted reproduction is done for infertile married couples, couples with a medical reason, and single women who want it. The US State Department also says IVF is available to single women in Vietnam.
Is surrogacy legal in Vietnam?+
Only unpaid, humanitarian surrogacy is legal, and only when all the conditions in the Law on Marriage and Family are met, including that the surrogate is a close relative; commercial surrogacy is banned. The US State Department says surrogacy is generally illegal for foreigners. UK Passport Office staff guidance says surrogacy is legal in Vietnam and commercial surrogacy is illegal. The two governments put it differently, so the UK FCDO advises legal advice in both countries first.
Can you choose the gender of your baby with IVF in Vietnam?+
No. The Law on Marriage and Family bans choosing the sex of a foetus. The same article also bans assisted reproduction for commercial purposes and commercial surrogacy.
How long does IVF take?+
The NHS says a full IVF cycle takes around 3 to 6 weeks. That is a UK figure for one cycle. We found no Vietnamese official figure, so ask the centre for its own timeline.
What is the IVF success rate in Vietnam?+
We found no Vietnamese government or WHO figure for IVF success in Vietnam. The UK regulator, the HFEA, says to be careful with high success rates abroad, because a clinic may show only women under 35 or count pregnancies rather than births.
Sources: Ministry of Health Circular 21/2023/TT-BYT; HFEA, Fertility treatment abroad; US Department of State, Vietnam travel advisory, Health, ART and surrogacy; Decree 207/2025/ND-CP (Official Gazette); GOV.UK (HM Passport Office), Vietnam knowledge base profile; GOV.UK (FCDO), Surrogacy overseas; Law on Marriage and Family, consolidated text 121/VBHN-VPQH; NHS, IVF
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Da Nang Hospitals
Where foreigners go for care
Pharmacy in Vietnam
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Health Insurance Vietnam
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Travel Insurance for Vietnam
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This guide is for general information only and is not medical or legal advice. It describes what Vietnamese laws and official bodies say. Questions about fertility treatment for you belong with a licensed doctor, and questions about your legal position belong with a lawyer. See our editorial policy.