stored for patients’ use or “stored for donation” – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by stored for patients’ use or “stored for donation” on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 8 January 2013 (WA 24–6), 24 February 2014 (WA 174–5) and 5 February 2015 (HL4367), whether the total number of embryos allowed to perish as stated as 1,717,375 between 1991 and 2011 represents the same set of embryos recorded in the earlier answer as stored for research” or “discarded”

Earl Howe

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that the number of embryos allowed to perish between 1991 and 2011 is 1,717,375, as stated in my written answer of 5 February 2015 (HL4367). In relation to the figures given in my written answer of 8 January 2013 (WA 24-6), the comparator would be the figures recorded as “Embryos reported on the Treatment form as being discarded” and “Embryos reported on the Gamete Movement form as being removed from storage and discarded”.

The total figures differ from the later answer (HL4367) because the latter does not include embryos stored for research. Any further difference in the figures is due to reconciliation work performed on the data since my answer of 8 January 2013.

The descriptive term “head of a pin” was intended to give the noble Lord an indication of the size of the embryo involved, in my written answers of 24 February 2014, HL5165 (WA 174-5), and 5 February 2015, HL4367.

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