Volume 1

Statutory storage period for embryos : report by the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority to the Health Ministers of the United Kingdom.

  • Great Britain. Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority
Date:
[1995]
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Statutory storage period for embryos : report by the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority to the Health Ministers of the United Kingdom. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    @ the storage of eggs or sperm or embryos. The Role of the HFEA 6. Since 1 August 1991, clinics wishing to carry out any of these activities have been obliged first to obtain a licence from the HFEA, the regulatory body set up under the HFE Act. The HFE Act also requires the HFEA to: keep under review information about embryos and any subsequent development of embryos and about the provision of treatment services and activities governed by this [HFE] Act, and advise the Secretary of State, if he asks it to do so, about those matters. The Issue Under Review tl. Section 14(4) of the HFE Act sets the maximum storage period for embryos at 5 years. A regulation-making power in the Act (at section 14(5)b) could allow this maximum period to be changed in circumstances to be specified. Whether regulations should be made and in what circumstances change may be permitted are matters for the Secretary of State for Health and, ultimately, for Parliament to decide. 8. Clinics have informed the HFEA that in June 1995 there were about 52,000 embryos in storage and that for about 9,000 of these, the 5 year storage period ends on 31 July 1996. As the legislation currently stands, if these embryos have not by then been used for any purpose for which consent has been given, they must be allowed to perish. Zh As 31 July 1996 approaches, there is growing concern in licensed clinics and among patients at the prospect of leaving large numbers of embryos to perish which might be used in treatment. The media have also taken an interest in the matter. 10. At the request of the Secretary of State, the HFEA has considered whether there is a case — for changing the 5 year limit. In drawing up its report, the Authority has taken account of a wide range of views and interests, including information it obtained from surveys of licensed treatment clinics and patients. Why People Wish to Store Embryos 11. IVF involves the retrieval of eggs from a woman’s ovaries under sedation or general anaesthetic. The woman is usually given drugs which cause several eggs to mature in one monthly cycle rather than the normal single egg. The eggs are then collected and fertilised by sperm to produce embryos for use in treatment. The procedures are not without physical risk and