England: HFEA head speaks out on older mums and SET

October 17, 2006

The interim chairman of the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), Lord Harries of Pentregrath, has said that there should be no upper age limit for women seeking IVF treatment. In an interview with the Times newspaper, the former Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, said that there should be no legal barrier to prevent older women seeking treatment, and that it should instead be ‘a clinical judgement’. Lord Harries also said that the HFEA will be encouraging clinics to move towards single embryo transfer (SET), to cut the numbers of multiple births associated with IVF. (BioNews)