Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 11 December 2008 (WA 8-9), how many animal-human hybrid embryos have been created since the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. [HL1900]
Answer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the Written Answer provided by Lord Darzi of Denham on 11 December 2008 (Official Report, cols. WA 8-9), referred to by the noble Lord, provides the number of embryos created from the commencement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 until 2007. Figures for the number of embryos created during 2008, 2009, 2010 and the first half of 2011 are set out in the following table:
| Year | Embryos
created |
| 2008 | 219,183 |
| 2009 | 238,658 |
| 2010 | 254,055 |
| Jan
- Jun
2011 | 132,589 |
The HFEA has advised that the number of live births following In vitro fertilisation treatment in each year to 2009 is publicly available in the dataset published alongside the HFEA report Latest UK fertility treatment data and figures: 2009-10. The dataset and report can be found on the HFEA website at: www.hfea.gov.uk. Since the report's publication, a further six months' worth of data has been verified, in line with the HFEA verification schedule, and figures for the first half of 2010 are provided in the following table:
| Year | Number
of Babies
Born |
| Jan
- Jun
2010 | 8,172 |
The HFEA has also advised that according to information submitted to the authority by licensed research centres, no human admixed embryos have been created under a HFEA-licensed research project since 1 October 2009.