HFEA SEED (Sperm, egg and embryo donation) Review: Regulation of Donor Assisted Conception, PROGAR submission January 2005

PROGAR (Project Group on Assisted Reproduction) was set up originally at the time of the Warnock Inquiry, taking forward work done by a predecessor group which had submitted evidence to that Inquiry on behalf of the British Association of Social Workers. That group and PROGAR both drew on the knowledge and expertise of social workers in the fields of infertility counselling, adoption and fostering, child care, family work and health care.

PROGAR continues to be administered by the British Association of Social Workers but is now also supported by the Association of Directors of Social Services, British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, Barnardos, The Children's Society, British Infertility Counselling Association, Donor Conception Network, the South East Post Adoption Network, and by individual donor-conceived adults.

PROGAR has contributed to policy discussions and policy formation in assisted conception on many occasions. The principles underlying PROGAR’s work have always been that people with a personal involvement with fertility problems, especially people undergoing investigation and treatment, donors of gametes and embryos, and children conceived as a result of donor procedures, should receive the best care possible, including access to counselling and support.