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09 July 2001

To: Persons Responsible

Dear Colleague,

Re: Statutory storage period for donated sperm and the management of donor sperm stocks by licensed centres

As you are aware, a Chairman's letter (CH(01)06) was recently circulated to all licensed centres reminding them of the Statutory Storage Period for sperm. As outlined in this letter, donated sperm stored pre-Act was permitted to stay in storage for ten years following the introduction of the HFE Act 1990. This time period ends on 31 July 2001. Donor sperm put in storage since the introduction of the Act can only be stored for the statutory storage period often years. The Act does not provide for any exemptions to this position.

We understand that people seeking treatment with donor sperm often wish to have full siblings and therefore reserve donor stocks of sperm for use in future treatment. The HFEA is sympathetic to this and allows exemptions to the limit on donor offspring to be made exactly for this reason (Code of Practice 9.31). The HFEA cannot, however, make exceptions to the rules laid down in statutory legislation, such as those controlling the statutory storage period for donor gametes.

It appears that people seeking treatment with donor sperm have not always been informed that there is a limited time period for storage of donor sperm, including sibling stocks. To give couples the best opportunity to complete their families within the limited time period allowed by statute, it is essential that clinics manage their stocks of donor sperm effectively. Clinics should ensure that people seeking treatment know how much storage time remains for any particular stocks of donated sperm as they may wish to have a number of children from the same donor and this should be established before treatment is given. Clearly donor sperm with little storage time remaining would not be suitable for those intending to have more than one child from the same donor. In addition, people with sibling stocks in storage should be contacted early enough before the end of the storage period to give them the opportunity to have further treatment with the donor sperm if they so wish.

If you have any queries about any aspect of this letter, please contact your inspector coordinator or a member of the policy team.

Yours faithfully,

Maureen Dalziel
Chief Executive

 

Page last updated: 24 August 2012

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