Commentary on Sections Part 1: Amendments of Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 Section 15: Conditions of storage licences
127.Section 15 amends section 14 of the 1990 Act. Section 14, as amended, continues to provide for various conditions to apply to storage licences. Section 15 amends the statutory conditions attached to storage licences and amends the maximum statutory storage limit for embryos to bring it into line with the ten-year limit applicable to the storage of gametes.
128.Under the 1990 Act as it had effect before the amendments made by this section, embryos could be put into storage for five years. This has been amended to remove the five-year break point and allow couples to opt for a full ten-year storage period at the outset.
129.Section 14 is also amended to apply a ten-year statutory storage period to human admixed embryos.