Giving Consent to Fertility Treatment

Before starting fertility treatment, one should need to complete several consent forms. This is to allow us to be sure that you understand the treatment being planned and all its implications. We appreciate that it may sometimes seem like there is a lot of paperwork to go through, but the purpose of this will make us deliver a safe and good service complying with the law governing fertility treatment. This document describes the different consent forms and the issues to think about when completing them. Besides, our staff is always happy to answer any questions you may have about the consent forms and we will also discuss them at our face-to-face consultations with you. We also have a dedicated counseling service, which we encourage you to use, particularly if you are having a treatment that involves using donated sperm, eggs or embryos. Please remember that you have the right to withdraw or change your consent for this treatment at any time. There is no need to give us a reason. You must let us know in writing if you want to withdraw or change your consent and we will ask you to complete an updated set of forms. Please make an appointment to see one of our teams to do so. You must not consent to this treatment unless you have had all the information you need to understand the implications of this treatment. If you feel you need more information, please ask us. We are here to help you understand your treatment choices and to remain in control of your treatment.

This form is just similar to the forms which you fill before any medical treatment. It asks you to consent to any procedures required, such as egg collection and embryo transfer. Before completing this, you should have an understanding of the procedure involved, whether it is to be carried out under sedation or anesthetic and the potential risks.

Your absolute confidentiality is protected by law. We are not allowed to tell your general practitioner or anyone else about your treatment (other than in a medical emergency) unless you have specifically allowed us to do so. While looking for continuous care like in pregnancy, it is recommended that to inform your General Practitioner (GP) about the consent. So, once the GP receives information about fertility treatment, they maintain safety and improve the quality of care with maintaining confidentiality. We also recommend that you allow access to your information to administrative and audit staff that support our clinic. This is both to ensure the smooth working of the service and also to ensure that its processes and results can be monitored and improved for the benefit of patients. We are legally obliged to collect certain information about you and your treatment and pass it to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA). This includes personal data such as your name and address, the type of treatment you had, the number of embryos transferred and whether your treatment led to pregnancy. Information about a child after the treatment is also collected. If you give consent, the HFEA can release some of this identifying information to researchers, for research projects that meet strict guidelines. You can choose not to allow this. However, we believe that this kind of research is potentially very valuable in assessing the effectiveness and safety of fertility treatment, to develop new techniques and to study the effect of national policies. You can choose to give consent to your identifying information being used for certain types of research only. If you choose to consent for non-contact research only, you will never be contacted about research using your identifying information. This information will only be used to link the HFEA database with other databases. If you consent to contact research, staff may contact you in the future if they think you may be suitable for a research study. Giving consent to be contacted does not mean that you are automatically consenting for any future research study.

You can consent to the use of your gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos for your treatment, the treatment of others, research or training (or all of these). You can also give consent to the storage of these, which means freezing them for future use. Before giving this consent you should be happy that you understand the nature, purpose, and implications of the treatment being proposed. We will provide information about this to you at our face-to-face consultations and through written materials. We place a high priority on our patients being fully informed and staff will always be happy to provide clarifications and more information if you feel you require this. Please remember that you can specify extra conditions for storing or using your eggs, sperm, and embryos. When considering consent for the storage of gametes and embryos, it is important to know that the statutory storage period is up to 10 years and can be specified in the consent form. In certain cases, storage can be extended beyond 10 years if you consent to this and a medical practitioner certifies that either you or the person to whom your gametes or embryos have been allocated has, or is likely to develop premature infertility. In these cases, the opinion of the medical practitioner has to be renewed every 10 years, and the maximum period for which gametes and embryos can be stored is 55 years. The law does not allow us to keep your gametes or embryos in storage beyond the date you have consented to. Before the end of the storage period, our team will get in touch with you. It is important that you keep in touch with us, in particular, that you notify us of any change of address.  We are obliged by law to not let any stored eggs, sperm or embryos to perish. The consent forms MT and WT ask you whether you agree to be approached to participate in research studies involving your sperm, eggs or embryos. Agreeing to this does not commit you to participate in any particular research, rather it allows us to provide you more information which you can use to decide whether to participate or not. Research studies are all approved by Ethics Committees and are designed to help us understand infertility better and to improve the treatment of couples such as yourselves. However, we are aware that not everyone feels comfortable participating in research. Please be reassured that your treatment will not be affected whether you consent for research or not. The consent form also asks you to think about what you would like to happen to your gametes and embryos if you were to die or become permanently incapacitated. We appreciate that considering some of these scenarios may be distressing, but it is important that you have given some thought to this. We find that this is quite a useful prompt for an important conversation between partners, as it asks you to think about uncommon but very distressing scenarios and helps you fully prepare for your treatment. Our staff and specialist counselors are there to help you talk through any issues that may arise or to provide any clarification you may need.

4. Consent to parenthood

Before the treatment starts, the relevant consent forms are to be filled if the one is having the treatment with donor sperm, donor eggs or embryos. This is to ensure that any child born has a legally recognized father or second parent. There is a difference in law between the legal status of a ‘father’ or ‘second parent’ and a person who has parental responsibility for the child. The law specifies who can be a parent in various circumstances. We will provide you information about who will be the legal parent(s) under the HFE Act 2008 and other relevant legislation in your circumstances. Our patient information leaflet ‘Legal Parenthood’ lays out how the law applies in different scenarios and helps you understand who is allowed to be the legal parent and how this can be ensured. The HFEA website www.hfea.gov.uk is an excellent source of information about this, and other issues discussed above. In some cases, seeking legal advice may be useful.

5. Withdrawing, varying and restricting consent

You may withdraw your consent at any time up to the point that your eggs, sperm or embryos have been used in treatment, research or training, or been disposed of. To do so, please let us know straight away, in writing. We will ask you to complete the relevant HFEA consent forms designed for this purpose. If one of the partners whose sperm or egg was used to create embryos withdraws their consent to the storage of those embryos, then we will take all reasonable steps to inform the intended recipient of the embryos. The embryos can be stored for up to 12 months after we receive written notification of the withdrawal of consent, provided the 12 months does not extend beyond the statutory storage period. However, if the intended recipient also consents to the destruction of the embryos then we will dispose of them straight away, as required by the HFEA. You can also vary your consent if you change your mind at any time up to the point that your eggs, sperm or embryos have been used in treatment, research or training, or been disposed of. This may occur if, for instance, you were to change your mind about the use of your sperm, eggs or embryos in the event of your death. If this were to be the case, please let us know straight away in writing and we will go through the relevant consent forms with you. You can also restrict your consent about the use or storage of your eggs, sperm or embryos. For instance, you can state that you wish their donation only to treat a known recipient. Restrictions can be stated on your main consent form or a separate paper, signed, dated and attached to the form.

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