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07 October 2005

Stereotype of hard-up medical students a thing of the past

Today's sperm donors are much more likely to be family men in their 30s than the old stereotype of hard-up medical students, according to a new analysis of the people coming forward as sperm and egg donors by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

The analysis of donors coming forward in 2004–2005 has been released alongside new guidance on the Sperm Egg and Embryo Donation system (SEED), following a detailed public consultation earlier in the year.

In 2004-05:

• more than 2 out of 3 sperm donors (69%) were aged over 30
• The most common age group for sperm donors is 36-40
• more than 2 out of 5 sperm donors (41.5%) already have children of their own
• just under a third of sperm donors (31.4%) have two or more children

This is a significant change from 10 years previously (1994-1995) when:

• Sperm donors were most commonly aged between 18 – 24 years.
• Less than a third (32.2%) of sperm donors were over the age of 30
• Only 1 in 5 (21%) of sperm donors already have children of their own.

This information comes from the HFEA's Register of all sperm, egg and embryo donors, which it is required to maintain by law.

It also showed that the age distribution of egg donors remained relatively unchanged over the last 10 years. However, the number of egg donors with children of their own has fallen substantially. This is probably due to the rise in the number of ‘egg sharing' schemes, where women donate their spare eggs at the same time as they receive fertility treatment themselves.

• Additionally, the growth of new treatments such as ICSI (Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection) has reduced the demand for donor sperm over the past 10 years

Nowadays*:

• only 1 in 5 of licensed fertility treatments uses donor sperm (compared to almost half of treatments in 1994/95)
• only 1 in 8 children born following licensed fertility treatments was born following use of donor sperm (compared to 1 in 3 in 1994/95)
  
  (* information from 2005 Guide to Infertility on treatments taking place in 2002-03)

This donor analysis has been considered alongside the wide ranging SEED review published today. This has been a broad public consultation into the complex issues surrounding donor-assisted conception in the light of recent legislation on donor information and the EU Tissue and Cells Directive.

The SEED Review was designed to ensure the system around donation and donor treatment is as simple and straightforward as possible while ensuring safe and appropriate treatment for donors, patients and donor-conceived children.

The report's recommendations focus on the following areas:

• Donor screening – moving towards one set of professional guidance for clinics on screening donors.
• Selection of donors - less prescriptive guidance on how clinics must select donors for the treatment of each individual.
• Compensation for donors – in addition to the reimbursement of reasonable expenses, donors may receive limited compensation for loss of earnings. Donors may receive discounted treatment as a benefit ‘in kind' for donation.
• Limits for the use of donor gametes – A donor's gametes may be used to produce children for up to 10 families in the UK.  A new system of guidance will also be introduced to help clinics monitor the use of a donor's gametes to ensure that the limit for their use will not be exceeded.
• Import of donor gametes from abroad – In order to maintain the high UK standards on screening and information on donors, donated gametes can only be imported where UK standards on screening and donor information have been met.

Angela McNab, Chief Executive of the HFEA, said:

"It is important for the effective running of the sperm, egg and embryo donation system that we have proper information for clinics, other organisations and policymakers to make decisions in this important area.#

"Understanding who donors are is a significant part of understanding how the area of donor-assisted conception works and how it can be made better – this idea is at the heart of the SEED Review.

"It is fascinating to see how sperm donors have changed over the last decade. I hope we can now move away from the misconception of donors as young students to the new reality of 30-something family men.  This experience of family life must help donors to understand the incredible value that their donation has in helping others who have experienced difficulty in having children of their own.

"The HFEA has no role in recruiting donors or boosting the number of people coming forward. However we can do our bit to help make donation easier by ensuring that our guidance for the running of the donation system is as simple and straightforward as possible whilst ensuring appropriate and safe conditions for all those affected by this area of fertility treatment, including donors and the families that they help."

For further information about the analysis of donors visit the SEED Review page.

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Notes to editors

The analysis of donors looked at the egg and sperm donors who registered with the HFEA between 1 July 2004 and 30 Jun 2005 and compared this with the donors who registered with the HFEA between 1 July 1994 and 30 Jun 1995. 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.

• Download the SEED Report

Page last updated: 11 March 2009

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