UK Fertility Patients Face Financial and Treatment Disruption After Portuguese Clinic Insolvency

A Portuguese fertility clinic that relocated from London in 2025 was declared insolvent in August 2026, leaving at least 38 known British patients without active treatment and potentially facing financial losses exceeding £32,000. Stored eggs, sperm, and embryos were transferred to another Lisbon clinic with regulatory approval, though some patients have sought care at alternative facilities. The closure highlights regulatory gaps in international fertility treatment oversight.

Ovom Care began operations in London during 2023 before shifting its base to the Portuguese coastal town of Cascais in May 2025, attracting numerous UK patients seeking treatment abroad. The clinic's parent company faced financial difficulties across multiple jurisdictions, with insolvency proceedings occurring simultaneously in both Portugal and Germany. The timing of the closure proved particularly distressing for patients, as some continued making payments mere days before the official announcement, leaving them unable to recover funds through standard banking channels.

The regulatory response involved Portugal's fertility authority approving the emergency transfer of all stored reproductive materials to AVA Clinic, a competing facility in Lisbon. However, patients wishing to relocate their embryos, eggs, or sperm outside Portugal faced additional administrative hurdles requiring fresh regulatory clearance. Some affected individuals have since sought alternative treatment at London-based providers, including a clinic co-founded by a former Ovom Care executive who had departed the company citing value disagreements with its venture capital investors.