Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of running long term studies in to the impact on women's bodies of egg retrieval.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)’s Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee (SCAAC) recently reviewed the published evidence of health outcomes for those having fertility treatment, including egg donors. The last 10 years of evidence were reviewed and the HFEA will update relevant information on its website as needed.

The HFEA also set out strict requirements in its Licence Conditions and Code of Practice relating to the information that must be given before egg retrieval takes place in United Kingdom licensed fertility clinics, whether for the patient’s own use or to donate to others. This includes information about the potential immediate or longer-term health risks and the psychological consequences of being a donor, as well as offering counselling to everyone involved.