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Egg donation - for donors |
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What do the consent forms say?
There are several forms that you will need to sign before treatment starts. You need to sign a form agreeing to the treatment, including the general anaesthetic that is often used in the collection procedure. You have to give written consent for the use and storage of your eggs and any embryos that may be produced. You have to fill in a form for the HFEA giving basic details about yourself. You may also be asked to sign a form allowing your details to be made available to people other than the doctor treating you. In addition, clinics must ask about any previous donations, and if necessary must obtain your consent to contact other clinics involved or your GP about any relevant medical history.
Most importantly, you must give informed consent. Legally, the clinic must make sure that you have had all the necessary information, that you understand it, and that you have had the chance to talk things over with a counsellor. If you reach the point where you are about to start treatment and you still have doubts or don't understand what is happening, insist on getting a clear explanation - it is your legal right as well as your obligation to yourself.
Consent to treatment
You will be asked to sign a form stating that you have understood what the treatment is for, what it involves, that you have been offered counselling and that you accept the risks of the drugs and collection procedure. The treatment cannot go ahead unless you explicitly consent to it.
Consent form for the use and storage of eggs and embryos
This form must be filled in and signed.
Use
You are allowed to specify whether the eggs have been donated for treating other people (ie to be used for the recipient to get pregnant) or for research. You are also allowed to specify particular conditions under which the donated eggs should be used - most often this is to specify who the recipient is but there may be other conditions that you would wish to consider given your own circumstances. However, if the conditions are very strict you may find that the clinic is reluctant to go ahead with the procedure.
Storage
You are allowed to specify the storage period of any embryos produced from the eggs. You are given a choice of 5 years, 10 years and more than 10 years. You can also specify the number of years if it is less than 5 years. You need to say what will happen if you die or become mentally incapacitated - whether the embryos will continue to be stored or will be destroyed. The embryos are destroyed ('allowed to perish') at the end of the storage period you have specified.
HFEA requirements
The HFEA keeps a record of all donors and limited personal details about them. This is a legal requirement and you must fill in the form and sign it. It includes broad classifications such as race, hair and eye colour. In addition, the form leaves a space that you can use to give a description of yourself; you don't have to fill this section in.
Disclosure of donor details
Anyone working in the clinic with access to your files will be covered by the HFEA licence and will therefore not be able to disclose any personal information about you or your treatment. However, occasionally it may be necessary to have some external person examine the files, for example, to audit the accounts. The clinic should explain clearly under what circumstances it would be helpful to them for your identity to be disclosed. You do not have to consent to this if you don't want to.
May 98
