Parliamentary committee investigates egg donation and egg freezing

The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) of the UK Parliament's House of Commons has launched an inquiry into egg donation and egg freezing.

Fertility treatment in the UK, including IVF, egg freezing and gamete donation is governed by legislation and by a dedicated regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). According to HFEA figures, 6900 egg freezing cycles took place in UK clinics in 2023, compared with 4700 in the previous year (see BioNews 1295). There were also 1392 new egg donors in 2023, a slight decrease from previous years. The WEC inquiry seeks to assess whether current legislation appropriately protects women freezing or donating their eggs, and whether patients are adequately informed about the process, including any potential health risks involved.

'With women undergoing such procedures in greater numbers, the committee will take a timely and balanced look at this issue, examining a range of different perspectives,' said Sarah Owen, WEC chair and Labour MP. She added that the inquiry 'will also explore the health impacts of donating or freezing eggs and embryos and to what extent they are sufficiently researched and understood.'

One health risk that has been associated with both egg donation and egg freezing is the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a reaction to the medication taken to stimulate egg production. Any 'severe and critical' cases must be reported to the HFEA, whose latest figures show that there were only 67 such cases in 2024/25, and none of them concerned egg donors (see BioNews 1315). OHSS is a risk of IVF more generally, which involves the same processes for egg collection.

'If there were a big health and safety concern... for women who have to take the hormone injections that stimulate the reproductive system to produce the eggs for collection then we'd know about it by now,' Sarah Norcross, director of PET (the Progress Educational Trust), told Sky News. She noted that IVF, egg freezing and egg donation are established technologies. 'The first egg donation baby was born almost half a century ago. This is not something that is a new technology, this is something that's been going almost 50 years.'

Norcross said: 'We're very fortunate in the UK that we have a dedicated regulator, the HFEA, who are overseeing this area, and we also have a law that governs it. So patients are really very well protected.'

The Committee also plans to explore other issues, including whether there is any evidence of 'vulnerable women' being encouraged to freeze or donate their eggs, and whether current rules regarding donor compensation are satisfactory. Currently, egg donors can receive a maximum of £986 in financial compensation. This figure is set by the HFEA, and has only been increased once – in 2024 – since the current approach to donor compensation was introduced in 2011 (see BioNews 1232 and 630).