Portugal-based fertility clinic Ovom is closing. According to Lisbon newspaper Diário de Notícias, the company has filed for bankruptcy and shuttered without notifying patients, clinicians, or healthcare authorities.
Launched in 2023, Ovom opened a clinic in London before moving its flagship operations to Cascais, Portugal. The company offered AI-assisted, hybrid reproductive care, spanning IVF and egg and sperm freezing. In 2024, Ovom had secured over €4.8 million to expand its AI capabilities, research, and physical footprint.
The closure raises concerns about patient protection when venture-backed fertility providers fail. Writing on LinkedIn, Cofounder Dr. Cristina Hickman, who left Ovom in 2024 after differences with investors, said the shutdown highlights the need for stronger requirements around fertility insolvencies, arguing that patient protection should be a requirement rather than an aspiration.
Ovom is not the first fertility clinic to unexpectedly close – London-based Apricity shuttered last year without notice or patient communication.
To help Ovom patients transition care, a number of providers have stepped in – Plan Your Baby is providing free consultations with fertility specialists, gamete transfer and free storage when applicable, personalized care plans, and discounted treatments to Ovom patients. Hickman’s clinic Avenues launched a dedicated pathway to transfer patient records, care, and embryos and gametes.
“The lesson I take from Ovom is not that the vision was wrong. The vision was right. The lesson is that the people, values, governance and operational experience behind that vision matter enormously,” Hickman said. “Fertility is too important to be treated as just another high-growth investment category.”
