August

2006-08-18: In 2003 there were 525 altruistic egg donors; in 2004 there were 493 altruistic egg donors. 42 of the donors donated in both years. We have classed a donation to be altruistic when the sole purpose of the cycle was donation and no treatment was intended.

In 2003 6,043 eggs were altruistically donated to treatment and research; in 2004 5,685 eggs were altruistically donated to treatment and research.

In 2003 64 eggs were donated to research projects; in 2004 53 eggs were donated to research projects.

In 2003 3,735 embryos were donated to research projects; in 2004 3,642 embryos were donated to research projects.

2006-08-21: Professor Alison Murdoch has been employed by the HFEA as an inspector or external advisor since 1996, although she has not performed any work on the HFEA's behalf since January 2005. Exact details of remuneration are being withheld under section 40 (personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Professor Murdoch was the person responsible at the Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE between 31 July 1992 and 11 August 2004; she is currently the person responsible for research licences R0145 and R0152 and the nominal licensee for research licence R0153.

Further information on Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE research licences can be found in our Current Research projects area of the website.

2006-08-21:  The Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE works closely with the Policy, Ethics and Life sciences (PEALS) Research Centre at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/peals/).

One of this centre's projects is "A comparative study of embryo donors' and non-donors' views on embryo experimentation for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and stem cell therapies". This study involves interviews with patients undergoing IVF treatment who did and did not consent to donate embryos for research related to embryonic stem cell research and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

Interviews will also be conducted with women and men who did not use in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technologies to conceive about their views on embryo research. Through this research, the centre aims to explore people's experiences of being asked to donate embryos and the processes by which they came to their decision to donate or not.

This is an on-going project and the results of this will feed into the HFEA consultation on donating eggs to research.

2006-08-24: The Person Responsible for research licence R0152 is Professor Alison Murdoch and the Nominal Licensee is Dr Mary Herbert. All research activity under this licence is conducted at the Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The majority of embryos used in research are obtained from patients undergoing IVF treatment. These embryos are either not suitable for the patients' own treatment or the patients decide that they no longer wish to use these embryos. However, for some research projects eggs not embryos are required and, in the case of cell nuclear replacement (CNR), researchers have reported that freshly collected eggs are needed in order for this work to be successful. Therefore, the Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE has been permitted to ask women undergoing IVF whether they would consent to taking part in an egg sharing scheme in which a proportion of the eggs collected would be donated to research. In return they will get a reduction in the cost of their IVF treatment.
 
Where a centre holds both treatment and research licences, the HFEA insists that the Person Responsible for the treatment licence is different from the Person Responsible for the research licence(s). All women who donate eggs or embryos created from their eggs to research are told about the research projects carried out at their or an associated fertility clinic prior to commencing treatment. If they express an interest in donating eggs and/or embryos, they are given more detailed information and, after having a detailed discussion with a qualified member of staff (often a research nurse), the donor is asked to sign the appropriate consent forms.

As part of the HFEA inspection process we ensure that the woman's clinical treatment takes priority. We ensure that the doctor responsible for overseeing the woman's IVF treatment is not involved in the research project and, where possible, the embryologist who chooses the embryos to be used in treatment or frozen for later use is not involved in the research project.
 
The long-term consequences of taking the fertility drugs that are used when women donate are not known and there have been concerns expressed that exposure to these drugs may increase the chance of certain types of cancer developing later in life, although to date there has been no conclusive evidence that would suggest that this is the case.
 
In the short term, the fertility drugs that are used can cause donors to experience discomfort, mood swings, infections or bleeding as well as the risk of developing OHSS. Mild OHSS is relatively common (between 1-10% of treatment) and can be treated and controlled. More severe OHSS is rarer (around 1% of cases). In one or two cases, severe OHSS has been fatal. There are also risks associated with the type of anaesthetic or sedation that is used when the eggs are collected. The HFEA has not been informed of any donor at the Newcastle Centre at LIFE having had any adverse reaction from donating eggs to research.
 
It is an HFEA requirement that all people considering donation are given both written and verbal information on the medical risks, the legal position of the donor and the ethical implications of the donation.  Before donating, the donor will register as a donor and also sign consent in writing to the use of the eggs following donation. For egg sharers, there will also be a specific agreement with details about consent, benefits in kind and arrangements for distributing the eggs. Furthermore, all potential donors must be given the opportunity to receive independent counselling.