Donor conception - births

Number of births and children born following treatment using donated eggs, sperm or embryos,
1992-2008

  • Each donor may specify the number of families he or she is willing to help create, up to a maximum of ten families. 
  • Since 1991, there have been around 1,700 births (or 2,000 children) each year following treatment using donated eggs, sperm or embryos.
  • Clinics must check the number of families that have already been created before using that donor for treatment to create another family.
  • Donors can apply to the HFEA to find out how many children have been born as a result of their donation, the child(ren)’s sex and year of birth.
  • Parents can also apply for non-identifying donor information from the HFEA.
  • Donor conceived people can apply for information but the amount of information they receive will depend on when they were conceived, their age and whether their donor has re-registered.
  • The number of children born as a result of treatment not using any donated eggs, sperm or embryos is included for comparison.
  • Treatment started in the years shown below. Any birth will have actually occured around nine months after treatment took place.  

 

Births following donor treatment
Year Sperm Eggs Embryos All donor
concieved births
Births not
involving donation
1992 1,604 87 15 1,706 2,028
1993 1,972 135 26 2,133 2,573
1994 2,086 177 49 2,312 2,953
1995 1,947 205 38 2,190 3,793
1996 1,797 266 60 2,123 4,790
1997 1,615 289 63 1,967 4,946
1998 1,473 314 67 1,854 5,673
1999 1,377 378 60 1,815 5,964
2000 1,151 461 50 1,662 6,107
2001 1,083 432 66 1,581 6,435
2002 1,092 457 59 1,608 7,003
2003 1,037 449 54 1,540 7,336
2004 994 447 49 1,490 7,513
2005 919 472 60 1,451 8,242
2006 755 446 62 1,263 9,461
2007 826 395 52 1,273 10,280
2008 853 417 63 1,333 11,064

 

 

 

Children born following donor treatment
Year Sperm Eggs Embryos All donation DC babies as
a % of all
IVF/DI babies
All IVF and
DI babies (own or donated gametes)
1992 1,790 122 19 1,931 42% 4,569
1993 2,282 177 35 2,494 43% 5,825
1994 2,358 236 66 2,660 41% 6,540
1995 2,228 263 50 2,541 34% 7,530
1996 2,032 356 80 2,468 28% 8,714
1997 1,833 388 84 2,305 26% 8,703
1998 1,670 416 85 2,171 23% 9,517
1999 1,544 485 76 2,105 22% 9,754
2000 1,287 598 60 1,945 20% 9,750
2001 1,207 547 89 1,843 18% 9,979
2002 1,233 595 76 1,904 18% 10,643
2003 1,154 564 68 1,786 16% 10,877
2004 1,098 566 56 1,720 16% 10,955
2005 1,029 584 75 1,688 14% 11,946
2006 857 560 76 1,493 11% 13,112
2007 955 506 64 1,525 11% 14,162
2008 977 541 82 1,600 11% 15,237

 

Further information

Page last updated: 23 July 2010