• Mitochondria public consultation 2012
• National Donation Strategy Group
• Multiple births after IVF
• Past reviews
  • Genetic testing
  • Embryo research
  • Fees and regulation
  • Risks of treatment
  • Clinical safety
  • Donation
    • Donating sperm and eggs: have your say - 2011
      • The changing landscape of donation
        • Fertility treatment and donation trends
      • Donor compensation, reimbursement and benefits in kind
      • Family donation
      • Family limit for donated sperm and eggs
    • Sperm, egg and embryo donation review 2005/2006
    • Donated ovarian tissue in embryo research and assisted conception
    • Implementation of withdrawal of payment to donors
    • Donating eggs for research

Consultation closed

The 'Donating sperm and eggs: have your say' consultation closed on 8 April 2011. The information on this page is presented as it was during the consultation period and releates to the landscape of donation at the time.

See the consultation findings, and the current policies around sperm and egg donation in the UK:  

• Press release - HFEA agrees new policies about family donation and the number of families one donor can create
• Press release - HFEA agrees new policies to improve sperm and egg donation services
• Chair's letter - Implementation of the outcomes of the Donation Review 

Fertility treatment trends

Infertility affects around one in six UK couples – approximately 3.5 million people. Whilst the world’s first IVF baby was born in 1978, it is likely that sperm donor insemination has been going on for centuries.

As well as being a treatment for couples where the male partner has fertility problems, donor insemination is also used for single women, same sex couples and those who want to avoid passing on genetic disorders.

While more single women and same sex couples are having donor insemination, the demand from couples with an infertile male partner has decreased over the past decade. This is because of ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) which has become widespread in treatment since it was introduced in1992. ICSI involves the injection of one sperm into an egg, so it can be used when men have a low sperm count or poor quality sperm.

As a result of ICSI, the number of women undergoing donor insemination is now less than a third of the number treated in the early 1990s (around 2,000 in 2007, compared with 9,000 in 1991).

About 4% of IVF and ICSI treatment in the UK involves donated eggs.

 

 

Donation trends

The number of sperm and egg donors has risen in the UK in recent years. In 2005 , when donor anonymity was removed, 251 people registered as sperm donors and 921 as egg donors. In 2008, 396 people registered as sperm donors and 1,150 as egg donors.

Despite this increase in donors, the number of people receiving treatment has dropped since 2005: 825 patients were treated with donor sperm in 2005, compared with 651 in 2008. Meanwhile, 1635 patients were treated with donor eggs in 2005, compared with 1306 in 2008. It is not clear why there has been an increase in donor numbers, at the same time as a decrease in donor treatment. One explanation could be an increase in known donors (friends or family of the patient), who donate to one family only.

Increasingly donated sperm is imported from other countries. Currently about 20%  of donors are from overseas, compared to 12% in 2005.

Demand for treatment with donated eggs or sperm continues to outstrips supply, resulting in long waiting times at some clinics, particularly when patients want a donor from a minority ethnic group. The British Fertility Society estimates that we need 500 sperm donors a year to meet demand in the UK.

Back to The changing landscape of donation

 

 

Page last updated: 31 December 2010

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