Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 23 June (WA 266), how the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority determines that a human embryo is dead.
Answer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised me that it does not, itself, determine whether embryos are dead. However, the HFEA has also informed me that embryologists are likely to class an embryo as dead if cell division and development has ceased for at least 24 hours.