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HFEA licenses offering discount IVF treatment for egg donations for research
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has issued a license to the North East England Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle to allow researchers to ask women undergoing fertility treatment to donate eggs for research purposes in exchange for having the cost of their treatment reduced (see BBC news report). This will be the first time women have in effect been paid for their IVF eggs. The researchers investigate stem cell therapies for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s. Previously they have had permission to ask women to use their extra IVF eggs, if the women had produced 12 or more during treatment, but this strategy had not yielded sufficient eggs for their research needs. They hope that this license will provide more opportunities to collect eggs but they will not be able to start their plans immediately as they now have to apply for and receive funding. The HFEA had previously signalled its willingness to consider egg-sharing schemes (see news story).
As this license is recognised to be controversial, the HFEA has also announced that they will launch a full consultation on issues surrounding the donation of eggs for research purposes in the autumn. The consultation will examine the potential medical risks to women donating solely for research, the consent process, whether this newest scheme will impact the supply of eggs available for treatment, how the regulatory system would work to protect women from possible coercion to donate and whether the way in which the eggs were procured would impact how any successful research results could be used internationally, especially the use of any stem cell lines derived from those eggs.
Some critics question whether this latest license is in conflict with the tradition of altruistic giving and whether women will feel coerced to donate. Proponents say it will help in the goal to produce stem cell therapies to help the ill and disabled. The consultation is expected to be launched in September and last until November. Any guidance and new regulatory measures resulting from the consultation process will be issued in Spring 2007.