Wrexham couple spent £23,000 on fertility treatment but now embryos will be destroyed

The UK fertility regulator HFEA has said that any change in the law on sperm donation is down to the UK government.

“It’s about each person who provides an egg or sperm having that autonomy to consent and make that decision to whether they’re happy for a child to be born in treatment,” said Rachel Cutting, HFEA’s director of compliance.

“Once the embryos in the uterus, in the woman’s womb, there can’t be a withdrawal of consent for that.

“The way that the law is written is that consent can be withdrawn from up to that point.

“We can look at it further, but it is for the law to be changed and that’s not something within the power that the HFEA has. We can’t change the law. But we are sympathetic to cases like this.”

The HFEA has said it is important that clinics warn patients of the possibility of donors withdrawing consent “because it is really upsetting and distressing when this happens”.

The UK government said it also sympathises with “anyone facing difficult and distressing circumstances during fertility treatment.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We continue to work closely with the fertility sector to support high-quality, compassionate care, and we keep all aspects of the regulatory regime under review to the same end.”

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