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
- How might I feel about a child who is biologically mine/ours being raised by another family?
- Should we tell our child/children, and how might they feel about having a biological sibling growing up with other parents and they will likely never know them?
- Will we want to tell our wider family and friends that we donated our embryos to help another family?
- How will any children born from as a result of our donation feel?
FAQs
When can I ask for information about my donation and what details will I receive?
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
Is embryo donation anonymous?
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.
Who needs donated embryos?
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.
How are donors and recipients matched?
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.