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24 November 2005

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the regulator for fertility treatment and embryo research, is adding its experience to the government blueprint for new fertility legislation with its submission to the Department of Health's consultation on the Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

Following yesterday's (23 Nov) Authority meeting, the HFEA has finalised its response to the consultation. The submission has been put together following detailed consideration of the HFEA's 15 years of experience in running the current regulatory system together with information from public attitude studies and contains a number of issues that the HFEA has raised with the government over recent years.

Key elements of the HFEA submission include:

• There should continue to be national scrutiny of fertility treatment and embryo research, under a clear legal framework
• There should be a duty to provide clear and independent  information  to the public about fertility treatment and embryo research
• Patients should be appropriately informed about the cost of private treatment
• PGD embryo testing should be specifically considered in the new legislation
• Parliament should have powers to define the rules regarding the screening and selection of eggs and sperm
• The confidentiality provisions should be amended to allow longer-term follow-up studies of IVF patients and children
• The new law should give Parliament the flexibility to update its provisions as science develops
• To remove legal inconsistencies, the new law needs to be brought into line with other legislation, particularly the Civil Partnerships Act, the Adoption Act and the Human Rights Act

Suzi Leather, Chair of the HFEA, said:

"The 1990 fertility legislation has stood the test of time well and provided the framework for the UK to consolidate its position as a world leader in fertility treatment and research.

"However, the continuing pace of scientific development means that we now need Parliament to provide an updated framework for regulation of the sector to meet the challenges of the years to come.

"The current regulatory system has served patients and the public well over the past 15 years and has helped maintain public confidence in this technically complex and ethically challenging area. 

"We want to ensure that the Government is able to draw on the HFEA's detailed experience, together with the views and concerns of patients and the public, to ensure that any new legislation for fertility treatment and research proves as great a success in the future."

The full submission is available on the HFEA Policy page.

Ends

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Notes to editors

The Government announced in 2004 that it intended to review the provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (the HFE Act), including holding a public consultation exercise in 2005.

The Department of Health launched the consultation on 16 August 2005. The consultation closes on 25 November 2005. Details of the consultation can be found on the Department of Health website.

The HFEA is the independent regulator for IVF treatment and embryo research. Our role is to protect patients and the public interest, to drive improvement in the treatment and research sectors and to provide information to the public and policymakers about treatment and research.

The HFEA was set up in August 1991 as part of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.  The HFEA's principal tasks are to license and monitor clinics that carry out in vitro fertilisation (IVF), donor insemination (DI) and human embryo research. The HFEA also regulates the storage of gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos.

Page last updated: 11 March 2009

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