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09 February 2011

Summary of request

The Authority was asked for:

1. Copies of all Special Directions permitting the import of donor gametes to the UK in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and
2. Confirmation of which clinics, companies, and/or sperm banks outside the UK have been permitted to export sperm and eggs to the UK between 2007 and 2010.

HFEA response

The information requested is contained in the attached document.

• Special Directions for import of donor gametes 2008-10(pdf -1.62MB)

Donor numbers or codes that are cited in the Special Directions have been redacted.  It is considered that disclosure of those details may be in breach of section 33A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended).  The donor numbers or codes are therefore withheld under section 44 FOIA. 

The list of clinics, companies and/or sperm banks that exported gametes to the UK between 2007 and 2010 is extracted from a spreadsheet that was maintained by the Compliance Department.  For the purposes of this request, the information on that spreadsheet has not been verified against the actual data source, i.e. notification forms from clinics and electronic data submissions from clinics advising of the transfer of gametes because to do so would incur costs that would exceed the reasonable costs limit for this request.   

Page last updated: 16 August 2012

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