Storage period ends for 4000 embryos

Up to 4000 frozen embryos will be destroyed on 31 July as they will have reached their storage limit of five years under regulations that come into effect for the first time, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority announced this week.

In 1990 the British parliament decided that the storage of frozen embryos should be limited to five years. In May this year the period was extended for a further five …