VUB Dilemma

If you are registered with a Belgian health insurance fund, you pay only a copayment of €3.90. The remaining amount is paid directly to us by your health insurance fund. Your privacy is guaranteed.

If you are not registered with a Belgian health insurance fund, or if there are issues with your registration, we will look into other possibilities. In some cases, you can rely on assistance from institutions such as the PCSWs or Fedasil.

In other cases, patients have to pay for the treatment themselves (€ 213 for the first consultation and € 316 for the treatment). If this is difficult for you, we can explore possible solutions together. We believe that every woman deserves to be assisted.

3 stickers from your health insurance fund

The co-payment of € 3.80 (preferably by bank card payment)

Proof of your blood group (if available)

The law states that a woman who has the firm intention to terminate her pregnancy has the right to an abortion. She alone decides on this. Minors are also free to decide for themselves. Parents or guardians need not be informed.

The treatment itself and the preliminary interview must take place in a “healthcare facility”, meaning an abortion centre or a hospital that offers abortion services. Both facilities must have an information service.

During the initial consultation, your situation is discussed. What exactly is discussed depends on your specific situation and any questions you may have.  Topics that may be discussed include what went wrong with the contraception and which contraceptive method you want to use in the future, which methods are available to terminate a pregnancy and which method you prefer. Our staff are bound by professional secrecy and you decide what or what not to share.

There is a mandatory waiting period of six days between the first appointment and the abortion. On the day of the abortion, you must confirm your request for a termination in writing.

In Belgium, after the 12th week of pregnancy, an abortion can only be carried out if the woman attended the initial appointment at the abortion centre before the 12-week term. The abortion can be carried out up to six days after that initial appointment.

An abortion can only be carried out further into the pregnancy for medical reasons: such as when carrying the pregnancy to term poses a serious threat to the woman's life, or when an examination has shown that the child will suffer from an incurable disease (based on current scientific knowledge). In these cases, treatment must be carried out in a hospital and the opinion of a second doctor must be sought.

If you wish to have an abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy (= 14 weeks counting from the first day of the last menstrual period) and there is no medical reason as described above, you can currently only go abroad (The Netherlands, Great Britain). If you are in such a situation, you can contact us for a meeting, information and possibly a referral to a clinic abroad.

The abortion law applies equally to adults and young people under the age of 18. They are also free to make an independent decision about whether to continue their pregnancy. The parents or guardians need not be informed.

Young people are usually covered by their parents' or care giver's health insurance. We have an explicit agreement with the health insurance funds to only communicate with us about your treatment. In other words no letters or e-mails will be sent to parents or partners, and our care provision cannot be viewed online or at local offices.

Our staff are bound by professional confidentiality. For that reason they are not allowed to inform parents, guardians, care givers, partners or others about your visit to our centre.

Every woman who requests an abortion has her reason. If you prefer not to talk about that reason, or certain aspects of it, you will not need to do so.

If you, as a doctor or social worker, refer a client to us, please provide her with the following:

Lab test results including blood group and HCG, if performed.

Ultrasound scan, if any.

Certification stating the date on which you saw the client with the request for a termination of pregnancy.

You can refer your patient even if she is in doubt. Our staff are trained to guide patients through the decision-making process. Of course, every woman remains free to decide whether or not to proceed with an abortion.

Ask your client to contact the centre as soon as possible if she wishes to cancel or reschedule her appointment.  This enables us to give another patient an appointment (sooner). Appointments can also be cancelled through the website.

Cancel appointment