Croatia mandates psychological counseling before donor‑egg IVF

The Croatian Psychological Chamber has issued new public guidelines that require mandatory psychological counseling for married, cohabiting and single women before any heterologous medically assisted reproduction procedure using donated gametes. The rules, which replace the 2011 general guidelines, specify that counseling must be delivered by specially trained, authorized psychologists and include a joint session for partners plus an individual session for the woman; an individual session for the man is recommended only when relationship difficulties arise. The counseling covers infertility coping, attitudes toward the donor, treatment expectations, preparation for parenthood and how to disclose the donor conception to the child. A certificate of counseling will not be issued if the couple does not reach consent or if they state they will not inform the child about its origin.

President of the Croatian Society for Gynecological Endocrinology and Human Reproduction, Dinka Pavičić Baldani, notes that the biggest challenge for most couples is accepting that parenthood will not be achieved with their own gametes. She stresses that the counseling aims to help couples make informed decisions and prepare for the long‑term implications of donor‑based conception. Croatia still lacks a national program for donor gamete provision, fourteen years after the law on medically assisted reproduction was enacted.