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Thousands of human embryos created through IVF are being discarded following the breakdown of relationships, with new research finding that two-thirds of separating couples choose to destroy their remaining frozen embryos.
Researchers examining records from the London Women’s Clinic found that 66 per cent of couples who separated after undergoing fertility treatment opted to discard their stored embryos, raising further ethical concerns about the creation, storage, and destruction of human life through IVF.
The study, published in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine, examined records between 2019 and 2025, identifying 141 couples who had separated while embryos remained in storage. Just one in five chose to retain their embryos, while 4.2 per cent donated them to their former partner. Some embryos were donated to other couples undergoing fertility treatment.
During IVF, multiple embryos are created and frozen for future use. However, when relationships break down, decisions about the fate of these embryos can become contentious.
Under current UK regulations, both genetic parents must consent to the continued storage and use of embryos. Where agreement cannot be reached following separation, a 12-month cooling-off period applies before the embryos must be discarded if consent is not restored.
The researchers acknowledged the profound ethical difficulties involved, writing: “When couples separate, cryopreserved embryos often become sources of conflict… with most couples choosing to discard stored embryos rather than donate or retain them.”
They suggested that discarding embryos could provide a sense of closure following a relationship breakdown, although they recognised that doing so could carry a “more intimate sense of ending a potential life.”
We know that the destruction of embryos represents something considerably more serious than the disposal of “potential life” or unused medical material. Each embryo is a living human at the earliest stage of development, whose continued existence is left at the behest of the changing wishes and circumstances of adults.
The findings expose a fundamental ethical problem with IVF: human embryos can be created in excess of those immediately required, placed into long-term storage, and ultimately destroyed when they are no longer wanted.
Researchers recommended that fertility providers offer counselling throughout the storage period, particularly following relationship breakdowns. They also warned that rules permitting embryos to remain frozen for up to 55 years could create increasingly complicated disputes over consent and reproductive decisions.
The issue is becoming more significant as IVF continues to expand. Approximately 53,000 people underwent fertility treatment in the UK in 2024, with around three per cent of babies now born following IVF.
SPUC’s Communications Manager Peter Kearney says, “Yet again, big fertility is showing that its main goal is not to nurture and treasure life, but to satisfy the desires of selfish adults without a concern for the bloodshed they leave in their trail. Parliament must update legislation around IVF and the rights of humans at the embryonic stage to promote embryo adoption, crack down on the mass fertilisation of eggs, and ultimately protect the smallest and most vulnerable members of our human race. The London Women’s Clinic should be ashamed.”
