Update regarding donor treatment in New South Wales

The NSW Ministry of Health recently issued advice that required us to temporarily pause some treatments using donated egg and/or sperm while we reviewed compliance with the five-family donor limit, which NSW Health interpret as applying worldwide rather than the NSW wide interpretation applied by many ART Providers.

We know this has been an incredibly difficult time for our patients and we have worked closely with NSW Health to advocate for our patients.

Monash IVF is pleased to report that the NSW Government has confirmed that they will create an exemption to enable women and families who are directly affected to continue their treatment.

The exemption will apply to women who, before 1 October 2025, either:

• had an embryo (of the woman or the woman’s spouse) held in storage by a registered ART provider, or
• reserved a gamete that was held in storage before 1 October 2025 by a registered ART provider, or
• reserved the use of a particular donor’s gamete held outside of NSW, and had commenced preliminary treatment with a registered ART provider after 1 July 2025 for the purposes of receiving ART treatment using that donor’s gamete.

The exemption will apply in relation to both:

• gametes or embryos in storage, and
• specific gametes outside of NSW that have been reserved for use by particular women.

The exemption will not apply to women and families seeking treatment in the future using gametes or embryos not currently in storage or reserved for use by particular women.

Women (or their spouse) who have already had a child using donated gametes, or using an embryo created from a donated gamete, can continue with any current or future treatment to extend their family using that donor’s gametes. The limit in the ART Act does not apply to women in these circumstances.

We sincerely thank the NSW Government for granting this exemption and their ongoing support of donor patients.