What changed on 1 July 2022

Before that date, most people in the UK could store eggs, sperm or embryos for up to 10 years. Longer storage — up to 55 years — was available only to people with premature infertility, or who were about to have medical treatment likely to affect their fertility.

The law now permits storage for use in treatment for any period up to a maximum of 55 years from the date the eggs, sperm or embryos were first placed in storage. That sounds like a straightforward liberalisation, and it mostly is. But the HFEA attaches a condition to it that does more practical work than the headline: for storage to continue lawfully, you must renew your consent every 10 years, on the relevant consent form.

The renewal is the part that catches people

If you do not renew your consent to storage, your eggs, sperm or embryos will be removed from storage and disposed of when they can no longer be lawfully stored. Your clinic is responsible for contacting you with the information and forms at the appropriate time, and for offering counselling before you consent to storage of embryos.

Which puts a surprising amount of weight on your postal address. The HFEA says it is essential to keep your contact details up to date with your clinic, and that if the clinic is unable to contact you, your eggs, sperm or embryos are at risk of being removed from storage and disposed of. Tell your clinic if you move, change your phone number or email, or if your circumstances change — for example if you separate from a named partner.

Storage consent and storage payment are separate things. You do not have to match the length of storage you consent to with any payment contract, whether you or the NHS are paying. But the HFEA notes that if you do not pay for storage as agreed, the clinic may be within its rights to dispose of your eggs, sperm or embryos.

Embryos need two people's consent

Embryos can only be stored if both you and the egg or sperm provider have given consent. That may be your partner, or a donor if donated eggs or sperm were used. Only the egg or sperm provider has legal rights over the use or storage of their own gametes, or of embryos created with them.

Either person can withdraw consent at any point up until the embryo is transferred to the womb. If your partner or donor withdraws consent, treatment cannot continue — even where the embryos were created jointly with your eggs or sperm. This is a common and painful surprise after a relationship ends, and it is worth knowing before you start rather than afterwards.

In reciprocal IVF, the HFEA is explicit about who decides: the partner whose eggs were used to create the embryo has the final say on what happens to them, including how long they are stored, and can withdraw consent to storage at any point up to transfer. The partner who carried a pregnancy from those embryos cannot make those decisions.

What you are consenting to, beyond the time limit

The HFEA consent forms cover more than duration. You are asked to record:

how long you consent to your eggs, sperm or embryos being stored;
the type of treatment you are having, including donation;
whether they may be used and stored for training purposes;
who will be the legal parent of a child born, if you are using donated eggs, sperm or embryos and are not married or in a civil partnership with your partner;
what should happen if you die;
what should happen if you lose the ability to decide for yourself;
how your personal information may be used.

The death and incapacity sections are the ones people skip. The HFEA is direct about the consequence: if you have a partner but do not record consent on the appropriate form, then in the event of your death or mental incapacity your partner would not be able to use your eggs or embryos in their own treatment or with a surrogate.

Different clocks after death or incapacity

If you consent to use after your death, the law permits storage for your named partner's use for up to 10 years from the date of your death, and that period cannot be extended. If your named partner does not use stored eggs or sperm within those 10 years, they must be removed and disposed of; for embryos the point is 10 years and 6 months after death. Embryos can only be used and stored in that window if there is also effective consent from the egg or sperm provider.

If you lose mental capacity, the equivalent period is 10 years from the date a medical practitioner certifies in writing that you lack capacity, again not extendable. If you regain capacity within that period you can renew your consent to storage, and should notify your clinic as soon as possible.

If you stored before July 2022

Two situations, both requiring action rather than assumption.

If you stored before 1 July 2022 for up to 10 years and would now like to store for longer, up to the 55-year maximum measured from first storage, contact your clinic to discuss whether that is possible and complete additional consent forms where needed.

If you previously consented to store for longer than 10 years because you were prematurely infertile or likely to become so, contact your clinic as soon as possible. Consent now has to be renewed at each 10 years, and additional forms are needed for storage to continue lawfully — even if the clinic is still within the period you originally specified.

If you decide not to continue

You can withdraw consent to storage at any time by contacting your clinic and completing a withdrawal form. At that point you may be able to donate eggs, sperm or embryos you will not use for someone else's treatment, for training, or for research, each of which needs its own consent. Your clinic can advise which options apply to you. None of these is the default; if nothing is done, disposal is what happens.

How Long Can Embryos Be Stored? The 2022 Law Change