What We do

Our job is to license and monitor all clinics or centres carrying out fertility treatment such as IVF donor insemination and human embryo research to ensure that the principles of  the HFE Act are upheld. We also regulate the storage of sperm, eggs and embryos.

To achieve this we:

• create, update and enforce a Code of Practice which gives clear operational guidelines to fertility clinics
• keep a register of patients and the result of treatments they received, the details of any donor involved and the children who are born
• inform and advise patients, donors and clinics about fertility treatments and the issues they raise
• keep abreast of developments in the field of embryo and reproductive research to ensure any progress made is in everyone's best interests before it is adopted

Where are we going?

To ensure that we remain efficient, focussed and responsive in the complex and rapidly changing world of reproductive technology, we have developed a five-year Corporate Plan (2004/2009), which serves as a touchstone for everything we do.

The plan was created with the involvement and insight of patients, scientists and healthcare professionals, and agreed by the Department of Health and will be used to measure our effectiveness.