Skip to Main Content
New Patients:
0800
564 2270
Scientific image, Embryology treatment

Donating your embryos

When you have completed your fertility treatment, often one of the hardest decisions you make is what you want to do with any extra embryos you have. Sometimes patients do not want to discard their embryos and decide that they want to help others.

Using Your Embryos For Research

Helping other couples with your embryos

Could embryo donation be for me?

What does donating embryos involve?

Questions you should consider

FAQs

Any time following your donation, you have a right to find out:

  • If your donation has been successful
  • The number of children born as a result of your donation
  • The gender and year of birth of any children born following your donation

All egg, sperm and embryo donors in the UK must agree to be identifiable to anyone conceived from their donation.

When the child reaches the age of 16, they can ask the HFEA for non-identifying information about you (such as a physical description, your year of birth and your medical history). When the child reaches 18, they are entitled to identifying information, including your name and last known address.

Women who are unable to produce or use their own eggs require donated eggs or embryos and the following are the sorts ofreasons why:

  • Premature menopause
  • Risk of genetic abnormality if the woman is a carrier of a genetic disorder
  • Poor ovarian response to hormonal stimulation
  • Absence of the ovaries
  • Ovarian failure due to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy treatment

If the man also has a low sperm count or no sperm then embryo donation offers a solution to theircombined fertility problems. Single women with the above issues would also require embryo donation,but due to legal parenthood regulation may only use donor embryos created with donor sperm.

Physical characteristics such as hair and eye colour, height, weight, build, complexion, race andblood group are used for matching. The recipients of your embryos are also able to read a redactedversion of the personal description and goodwill message provided by yourself on the HFEA donorinformation form.