F-2011-00336 – Sperm donation in Scotland

27 October 2011

Summary of request

The Authority was asked for information about the number of sperm donors registering at HFEA licensed clinics in Scotland and treatment provided at these clinics that involved donor sperm.

HFEA response

Table 1. in the attached document shows the number of new sperm donors registering at HFEA licensed centres in Scotland each year since 2005. By new donors we mean donors that have not previously registered at an HFEA licensed clinic. Please note that 2010 is the most recent year for which this data, and that in table 2, is verified. There is a six monthly rolling verification process and the next set of verified data will be released in April 2012.

Table 2. in the attached document shows the number of sperm donors used in licensable treatment at HFEA licensed centres in Scotland each year since 2005. By licensable treatment we mean all in vitro fertilisation (including ICSI) and donor insemination (ie, HFEA licensable treatments). There are several points to note about this data -

Donors will only be counted once each year although they may have been used in >1 treatment cycle in that period. Donors may have registered at an HFEA licensed clinic in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and a sample transferred to a clinic in Scotland for use in treatment so, the number of new donors registering in table 1 does not necessarily reflect the full pool of donors used in table 2. The data in table 2 excludes any treatment cycles using frozen-thawed embryos created using donor sperm.

Please note that the information in our database may be subject to change as licensed centres notify us of information that updates or corrects information they have previously supplied.  Outcomes up to 31 December 2010 have been subject to a verification process, and the centres that supplied the data have been asked to confirm their accuracy, for which they remain responsible.

Page last updated: 16 August 2012