Search our site to find information about about specific topic. You can also search our Knowledge Centre and our Blog too.
Welcome to our Knowledge Centre
Use the Filters and/or Search box to find what you need. Or Browse all topics using the purple bar (not on mobile devices).
Search results — 16 matches found
Sperm and egg donation services are provided by many UK fertility clinics, which match recipients and donors and provide fertility treatment services. Many clinics recruit their own egg or sperm donors in the UK although some buy in donated eggs or sperm from other clinics and sperm banks (which might be in the UK or abroad). There are also various donor-matching websites in the UK which introduce donors and recipients, who then make their own conception arrangements...
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) was set up in 1991 and comprises members (the majority of whom are clinicians, researchers or other fertility/embryology professionals) and a lay chair. The Authority oversees a staff which licenses and inspects fertility clinics in the UK. In the UK, you need a licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to: Provide medical treatment involving human embryos, eggs or sperm Create human embryos (or...
Eggs and sperm Eggs and sperm can only be stored or used in treatment or for research if the gamete provider consents. To be valid, consent must be in writing and signed (although there are some special rules which allow a person who is physically incapacitated to ask someone else to sign for them). In practice, consent is normally given using a signed HFEA form, although consent is equally valid in another written/signed form (such as a letter). Before giving consent, counselling must be offe...
The law specifies the maximum periods for which eggs, sperm or embryos can be stored (assuming that the egg and sperm provider consent to storage for this period). The basic maximum storage period is ten years. When this period comes to an end, the eggs, sperm or embryos must be allowed to perish unless the extended storage rules apply. Special rules allow extended storage for people storing eggs, sperm or embryos because they are prematurely infertile. Storage can be extended in t...
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a technique for testing the genetic make-up of embryos before they are used in treatment. PGD has been carried out in the UK (under HFEA licence and regulation) for many years, but in 2008 Parliament created laws which restrict the circumstances in which such techniques can be used. The law now allows embryo testing in the UK only for the following purposes: Excluding serious genetic abnormalities PGD can be used to exclude a gene, chromoso...
Suzi's article looks at the case of IM and MM v HFEA, which concerned the storage and export of frozen eggs
Suzi's article, published by Lexis Nexis, reviews the cases heard by the President of the Family Division dealing with parenthood after sperm donation.
The HFEA updated its Code of Practice guidance on surrogacy in October 2013 (following advice from NGA). Our article, published in Bionews in May 2013, explains the changes.
Natalie’s article, published in the Infertility Network UK magazine (spring 2011) looks at how things have changed for same-sex parents and families created through surrogacy and donation over the last ten years
Natalie's article, published in Bionews in September 2009, looks at the government's last minute decision in September 2009 to change the rules on extended storage to allow embryos being stored for surrogacy to be subject to the same rules as other embryos. This was a change to the law we campaigned for successfully.
Natalie's article, written for fertility patients and published in the Infertility Network UK magazine in summer 2009, explains how UK law governs embryo testing.
Natalie's article, published in the Infertility Network UK magazine in spring 2008, explains the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill 2008 and its proposed changes to the law, covering same-sex parents, welfare of the child, donor information rights and embryo storage.
Following an HFEA audit several UK fertility clinics discovered that unmarried patients who had conceived with donor sperm had not properly completed the documents necessary to make the non-biological parent a legal parent.
In 2014, widow Beth Warren won a legal case against the HFEA relating to storage periods. Her husband had stored his sperm before cancer treatment and consented to her using it after his death. The HFEA said that Beth could only continue his sperm (after his death) for ten years after his initial consent. Upholding Beth's case, the court said that the HFEA should deem his consent to have been extended when he last renewed his annual storage fee.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s Code of Practice gives guidance to fertility clinics on surrogacy, setting out how UK clinics should deal with surrogacy cases, and explaining the procedures and options for allocating legal parenthood
These regulations set out the circumstances in which fertility patients can extend the storage of their gametes or embryos beyond ten years.
Copyright © 2014 Natalie Gamble Associates. Privacy policy | Terms and conditions