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Can you have IVF at a government or university hospital in Malaysia?

6 November 2026, by Dr. Navdeep Singh Pannu

Can you have IVF at a government or university hospital in Malaysia?

Yes. A small number of Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals and university hospitals in Malaysia offer IVF at subsidised rates to married couples who meet their criteria. Places are limited and waits can be long. The usual route is a referral letter from a government health clinic (klinik kesihatan) to a hospital's gynaecology clinic. At least one university hospital also sees couples without a referral.

This page explains which hospitals have been reported as offering IVF, how referral works, and what you can do while you wait. Services change, so always check with the hospital itself. The sources, with their dates, are at the end.

Which government and university hospitals offer IVF?

There is no published, up-to-date MOH list of hospitals that offer IVF. The list below includes only hospitals that a source from 2023 or later says offer IVF, with the date of that source.

Ministry of Health hospitals

  • Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL)
  • Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Alor Setar, Kedah
  • Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah, Kuala Terengganu
  • Hospital Likas (Hospital Wanita dan Kanak-kanak Sabah), Kota Kinabalu

In April 2019 the Health Minister gave Parliament the number of IVF patients treated at these four MOH hospitals, and they were listed again as government hospitals offering IVF in a Kosmo! report in October 2023. We have not found a more recent official list. Before you ask for a referral, check with the hospital that its IVF service is still running.

University hospitals

  • Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), UKM, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Its Advanced Reproductive Centre offers IUI, IVF and ICSI, as well as sperm, egg and ovarian tissue freezing for fertility preservation (reported January 2026). The centre says it does not need a referral letter.
  • Hospital Pakar USM, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. The hospital's obstetrics and gynaecology department lists IVF among the services of its fertility centre (page updated February 2026).
  • Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC or PPUM), Kuala Lumpur. Named as a semi-government hospital offering IVF in the October 2023 Kosmo! report. The 2026 Budget speech also mentions Universiti Malaya providing fertility treatment.

University hospitals describe themselves as semi-government (separa kerajaan), and each sets its own rules on who it treats and what it charges.

LPPKN subfertility clinics

The National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) runs subfertility clinics in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor and Kuching. In June 2023 the deputy minister responsible told Parliament that LPPKN's subfertility clinics offer IUI, IVF and ICSI. LPPKN's subsidy scheme, BuAI, pays for IUI only, not IVF. See Paying for fertility treatment for the BuAI criteria.

Who is eligible?

The law sets the first condition: in Malaysia, IVF is only for a husband and wife in a legal marriage, using their own eggs and sperm. This applies in government and private hospitals alike (see What Malaysian law allows).

On top of that, government hospitals have their own criteria, because places are limited. The criteria the Ministry of Health used in 2019, as reported then, were:

  • the wife is 42 or younger;
  • the couple has no children;
  • neither partner has an infectious disease; and
  • the wife has no condition that makes pregnancy high-risk.

We have not found a newer published version, so these may have changed. Ask the clinic that refers you what the hospital's current criteria are. If one of you is not a Malaysian citizen, ask whether you are eligible and on what terms.

How do you get a referral?

For most MOH specialist clinics, a referral letter from a klinik kesihatan is usually needed, and many hospitals do not take walk-in patients. The usual steps are:

  1. See a doctor at your klinik kesihatan. You can book through the MySejahtera app. Go together if you can, because fertility problems can affect either partner. Ask for a referral to the gynaecology (O&G or sakit puan) clinic of a hospital that offers IVF, or to the nearest hospital that can refer you on.
  2. The hospital's gynaecology team assesses you both. They will usually look at the wife's ovulation, womb and fallopian tubes, and the husband's semen analysis. Some couples need simpler treatment first, such as tablets to help ovulation or IUI.
  3. Referral to the IVF or reproductive unit, if IVF is the right treatment and you meet the criteria. If there is a wait, you join that unit's list.

If you are already seeing a private doctor, ask the hospital whether it accepts their referral letter. HCTM's Advanced Reproductive Centre says it sees couples without a referral letter.

How long is the wait?

There are no published waiting times. In 2019 the Health Minister told Parliament that he had found the waiting time for IVF "very long" (sangat lama), after visiting the IVF service at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah. In May 2026 a specialist at HCTM said the centre had no waiting list because it runs IVF every day.

Waiting matters most if the wife is in her mid-30s or older, because female fertility decreases with age, more quickly from the mid-30s. Ask at your first appointment how long the wait is likely to be, so you can plan around it.

What can you do while you wait?

  • Get the basic tests done. Ask whether the husband's semen analysis and the wife's blood tests and pelvic scan can be done while you wait, so the IVF unit has your results when your turn comes. See Fertility testing and When to see a fertility specialist.
  • Stop smoking, both of you. Smoking, including passive smoking, lowers the chance of conceiving and can reduce semen quality.
  • Aim for a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese (a BMI of 30 or more) reduces fertility.
  • Avoid alcohol. Heavy drinking can affect sperm quality.
  • Check what help with the cost you qualify for. The EPF Akaun Sejahtera withdrawal and LHDN tax relief can be used for treatment at a medical institution in Malaysia. See Paying for fertility treatment.

Other sources of help

  • Tunku Azizah Fertility Foundation (TAFF). This foundation sponsors IVF for selected couples. By January 2026 it reported having sponsored fertility treatment for 553 couples across Malaysia since it was set up in 2004.
  • New public clinics. In July 2026 the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) told the Dewan Negara it plans to add at least two infertility clinics a year nationwide, mainly for lower-income married couples.
  • A National Subfertility Centre in Shah Alam, Selangor, was announced in 2023, when it was expected to open in 2029. In November 2025 the government said RM171 million had been approved to build it.

Government or private: how to decide

Government, university and private centres all follow the same Ministry of Health policy and Malaysian Medical Council guideline, so the rules on who can be treated, and how, are the same. Private fertility centres are another route, including for couples who don't meet a government hospital's criteria, such as couples who already have a child. Whichever route you take, ask for an itemised estimate of the cost before you start. Read more about IVF and IUI, or whether IUI or IVF suits you.

Sources

This page is general information, not medical advice.

This article is for general education only and does not take your personal circumstances into account. Please speak to your doctor for a diagnosis and treatment that are right for you. Disclaimers