CH(00)02
21 February 2000
Dear Colleague,
Re: Screening of Donors providing Gametes or Embryos
I am writing to remind centres of the HFEA's policy on the screening of people donating gametes and embryos. Annex C of the HFEA's Code of Practice outlines the HIV screening requirements of the HFEA.
The HFEA requires that all sperm donors should be screened, and the sperm quarantined for a minimum of 180 days, followed by the donor being re-screened.
With donated embryos, the embryos should be quarantined for a minimum of 180 days and both of the gamete providers should be screened at the end of the quarantine period.
As you are aware, the screening requirement for donated eggs is different. Fresh egg donation is permitted providing the woman donating the eggs has been screened at the beginning of the treatment and collection cycle. If the treatment and collection are to take place some time after the initial assessment, a preliminary sample should also be tested at the time of the initial assessment. The recipient of a fresh egg donation should be fully informed of the screening situation and the infection risk.
Centres are reminded that screening without quarantining only applies to fresh egg donation and is not allowed for situations involving either sperm or embryo donations.
Although the HFEA acknowledges that centres may occasionally decide not to follow the advice given in the Code of Practice if they consider a different course of action to be appropriate, this should only be in exceptional circumstances and should be justified fully in the patient's notes. Centres may wish to seek their own legal advice in these cases.
The Code of Practice Committee recently discussed this issue and agreed that Annex C was still an accurate reflection of the HFEA's policy on screening, though this area of policy is kept under review.
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact the HFEA.
Yours faithfully,
Ruth Deech
Chairman
Page last updated: 14 April 2009