The Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority (HFEA) advises that there are now more than 85,000 Donor Conceived People (DCP) who have been conceived in the UK since 1st August 1991, when the HFEA was created.
However, this number doesn’t take into account the DCP who were conceived between the 1940’s and 1991.
This also doesn’t take into account DCP who have been conceived outside of licenced UK fertility clinics.
There are Facebook groups that, in 2025, have more than 40,000 people in, searching for sperm donors to conceive Donor Conceived People from through unlicensed channels.
The Donor Conceived Scandal
There is no way of knowing how many DCP have been conceived in the UK.
At Donor Conceived UK we estimate that there are at least 100,000 DCP who have been conceived in the UK and the majority of these 100,000 DCP do not know that they are Donor Conceived.
This has huge implications for consanguinity and those DCP, UK citizens, who unknowingly have the wrong medical and genetic information.
It’s a ticking time bomb.