Further information about the SEED Review

What is donation?

People may require treatment with donated sperm, eggs or embryos for a variety of reasons.  The most common of these is that they are affected by infertility/subfertility which means that they are unable to produce suitable numbers of healthy gametes (the general term for male and female reproductive cells ? sperm and eggs).

Other reasons include where a couple is at risk of passing on an inherited genetic condition if they conceive naturally, where a woman is unable to carry a pregnancy herself and a surrogate is required or where a woman who wants to conceive does not have a male partner to provide sperm.

Where a man is unable to produce adequate sperm ? ?male factor' infertility ?insemination of his partner with sperm provided by a donor can help the couple to have a child.  Where a woman is unable to produce healthy eggs ? ?female factor' infertility ? eggs from another woman (egg donor) can be fertilised in the laboratory with the woman's partner's sperm and the resulting embryos transferred to her so that she can carry the pregnancy herself.  Occasionally there will be reasons why the donation of an embryo (using both eggs and sperm from third parties) will be appropriate.

The review:

The SEED Review was to identify measures to ensure an adequate, effective and safe service for those requiring treatment with donor sperm, eggs and embryos, whilst protecting the interests of those who may be born as a result.  The review was set against, new UK regulations to allow information about donors to be disclosed to those born as a result of their donation and the EU Tissues and Cells Directive.  The review focussed on those aspects of donor-assisted conception which fall within the scope of HFEA policy and regulation.

What did the review cover?

There have been four phases of the review:

• Survey of clinics in order to develop a detailed understanding of the current demand for and provision of treatment, and to identify relevant trends
• Review of clinical and scientific evidence supporting current HFEA policies and guidance, including further expert submissions by interested parties
• Public consultation on proposals for measures to secure and promote adequate, effective and safe donor treatment services, developed in consideration of the findings of (1) and (2) above, together with a regulatory impact assessment
• Findings of review, with analysis of consultation responses, to be presented to the HFEA and Department of Health