§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many frozen embryos have been destroyed to date(a) under the provisions of the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Act 1990 and (b) under other authority. [9705]
§ Ms JowellThe figures requested are not routinely collected.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 regulates, among other things, the storage of embryos. The Act requires embryos to be removed from storage and allowed to perish if the consent of the patients whose eggs and sperm created the embryos is withdrawn, or if the period of storage permitted under the Act comes to an end. For embryos stored on or before 1 August 1991, when the Act came into force, the maximum period for storage was five years, that is, until 31 July 1996.
573WRegulations came into effect on 1 May 1996 which extended the maximum storage period for embryos from five to 10 years, or longer in particular circumstances, if certain conditions were met. Effective consent under the Act for the extended storage period must be obtained in all cases.
Embryos stored on or before 31 July 1991 for which the required consent for extended storage was not given had, under the terms of the 1990 Act, to be allowed to perish on 1 August 1996. Information provided by licensed clinics to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority shows that 4,402 embryos were removed from storage on or about that date.