Statement by the National Gamete Donation Trust

The National Sperm Bank is a joint project run by the National Gamete Donation Trust and Birmingham Women’s Fertility Centre. It received a one-year start up grant from the Department of Health.

The National Sperm Bank (NSB) was established to increase the supply of donor sperm in the UK with a focus on the needs of NHS clinics. It sits alongside the sperm donation recruitment programmes run by individual private sector and NHS clinics.

In its first year of operation, the NSB recruited eight donors (one of whom has since dropped out). To achieve this, NGDT ensured that the message about the vital importance of sperm donation reached thousands of potential donors in the Birmingham region. The considerable publicity generated by the Bank also raised the profile of donation nationally.

The first donations from the NSB will be released shortly by Birmingham Women’s Fertility Centre and more will follow over the next few months.

The NSB is no longer actively recruiting donors. One of the lessons learned from running the NSB is that the level of ongoing investment required for successful donor recruitment is beyond the resources of a small charity like the NGDT. The NGDT will instead focus its resources on national awareness raising about the need for more UK donors

The NSB has demonstrated that given the right level of targeted information, more men are willing to become donors and give the precious gift of life.

26th October 2016

Contact:
Charles Lister
Chair NGDT
07772 303689

The National Gamete Donation Trust (NGDT) is the national body running the National Gamete Donation Services. We are a registered charity (Charity Number 106922). Our work has three different strands within the field of gamete (egg and sperm) and embryo donation:

1. We support and empower gamete and embryo donors. We also work with potential recipients, UK licensed fertility clinics, the media and support organisations to raise awareness of the need for gamete and embryo donors.
2. We manage the Donor Conceived Register to enable donors and people conceived through donated sperm or eggs before August 1991 to exchange information and, where desired, to contact each other.
3. We also, in partnership with Birmingham Women’s Hospital, run the world’s first independent National Sperm Bank.

Patron Diana Brittan CBE (Lady Brittan) Staff NGDT’s day-day-day work is carried out by a small (yet mighty) team of tenacious professionals:

• Nicky Clark, National Coordinator.

Trustees The NGDT has a dedicated Board of Trustees, which includes:

• Charles Lister OBE, Chair of Trustees
• Deb Barrow
• Gavin Evans
• Timothy Fox
• John Kilby
• Andrew Waters.

Advisory Council The NGDT Advisory Council comprises expert members from: Organisations

• British Andrology Society
• British Fertility Society
• British Infertility Counselling Association
• Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge
• Department of Health
• Donor Conceived Register Registrants’ Panel
• Donor Conception Network
• Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority
• Infertility Network UK
• King’s College London, DNA Analysis
• Multiple Births Foundation
• Royal College of Nursing, Fertility Nurses Group
• The Progress Educational Trust
• PROGAR (Project Group on Assisted Reproduction).

Individuals

• Kate Brian, Author and Journalist
• Brian Lieberman, Retired Consultant in Reproductive Medicine
• Pamela White, Specialist Associate Lecturer in Medical Law and Ethics, University of Kent.

The HFEA want your feedback on their new beta website

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) have launched the beta (draft) version of their new website to the public and it is aimed at people like you – fertility patients.  They want to know what you think of it. Have they got it right?  

They have put together a survey so you can give your feedback about the new site.  This includes a number of questions about how the information on clinics is presented – including their birth statistics in the Choose a Fertility Clinic section.  The HFEA are keen to hear your views about how they have chosen to present these.

The beta service is a work in progress, with new information and features planned for the next weeks and months. You can give your views by completing the beta survey that can be found on the website.  Please take a look at https://beta.hfea.gov.uk