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Guidelines

Guidelines on Embryo Donation for Reproductive Purposes

Date of publication: November 2008

Embryo donation is the donation by a couple, who have surplus embryos, of one or more of those embryos to an infertile couple or individual.

The main benefits of embryo donation for reproductive purposes are that it gives:
  • people with surplus embryos an option other than storage or destruction
  • infertile people another possible way of having a child.
The guidelines seek to protect the interests of the child-to-be, including their need to grow up in a caring family and form a clear concept of self-identity that is underpinned with accurate information about origins.

The guidelines require all applications for embryo donation to be submitted for approval on a case-by-case basis.

Document availability

The guidelines are available for download below in Word and PDF format:

Embryo Donation for Reproductive Purposes (Word, 265 KB)
Embryo Donation for Reproductive Purposes (PDF, 104 KB)