The Department has not issued guidance on cases where parents wish to store embryos for their infertile offspring. The individual factors of each case would be taken into account by a registered medical practitioner when deciding if the criteria for extending storage periods for embryos or gametes on the grounds of premature infertility are met.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has produced guidance, including through workshops, on the various changes that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 and its related regulations introduce.
(2) what discussions his Department has had with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on the age at which infertility would no longer been deemed premature in (a) men and (b) women for the purposes of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes) Regulations 2009;
(3) with reference to Parts 2 and 3 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes) Regulations 2009, what guidance his Department has provided on whether a person who was prematurely infertile on the day of examination, but whose infertility would no longer be premature for the whole of the subsequent 10 years would be eligible for a full 10 year extension of storage of embryos and gametes, with the exception of the final extension to 55 years.
As far as guidance issued by the Department and discussion it has had with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority are concerned, I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Burrowes) on 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 1984W.
The purpose of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes) Regulations 2009 is to provide more scope for people who are prematurely infertile to have children. Decisions to provide treatment using any such stored gametes or embryos will be subject to the normal welfare of the child considerations.