HFEA Fees

Key facts

  • Clinics (NHS and private) and research centres pay a fee to the HFEA towards the costs of being regulated and inspected. 
  • The fee paid depends on the type of treatment carried out or the complexity of the research.
  • The HFEA does not charge any fees to individual patients undergoing fertility treatment.

What are the fees for?

  • Fees paid by clinics and research centres go towards the HFEA's operating costs, including our continuing work to improve and strengthen regulation.  
  • The fees cover, for example, the costs of licensing and inspecting clinics to ensure that they are complying with the HFEA Code of Practice, the provision of HFEA patient information, and maintenance costs of the HFEA Register, which is used to collect and store treatment information that can be accessed by children born as a result of treatment. 
  • This licensing and inspection process ensures that the clinics meet the provisions of the law and conform to high medical and professional standards.
  • Government policy stipulates that the costs of regulation should be met by those being regulated. This means that the revenue needed to support regulation must be raised from clinics.  
  • The HFEA's power to charge fees for licences is laid out in Section 16 of the 1990 HFE Act. It states that "a fee of such amount as may be fixed from time to time by the Authority with the approval of the Secretary of State and the Treasury, and in determining any such amount, the Authority may have regard to the costs of performing all its functions."  
  • The Authority reviews its fees annually. The rise in 2006/7, approved by the Treasury, covered increases in the Authority's operational costs, and supported the continued strengthening and further improvement of regulation by the HFEA. There was no rise the previous year.   
  • Some private clinics, as a matter of individual policy, decide to pass this fee onto their patients as a separate and identifiable item on their bill. Others include this cost in their overall treatment fees, just as they do for the other overheads and costs associated with operating a clinic.

What are the HFEA´s current fees?

  • Clinics carrying out IVF and/or donor insemination cycles pay a fee for each cycle of treatment. The fee is currently £104.50 for each cycle of IVF and £52 for each donor insemination (DI) cycle.  
  • Clinics that carry out other fertility treatments involving fresh gametes (eggs and sperm), such as intra-uterine insemination (IUI) and gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT) pay an annual fee, currently £2950. 
  • Clinics also pay a fee when applying for or renewing a licence.
  • Research centres pay a fee of up to £750 when applying for a licence.

Further Information

Last updated: 20 May 2008