Egg and sperm donor advertising campaign: FOI release

Information requested

To date, what the Scottish Government has spent on the egg and sperm donor advertising campaign, including any spend for 2024.

And can you tell me, under FoI, how many people (and of which sex) have come forward for egg and sperm donation - to date - following the egg and sperm donor adverts run by the Government with NHS Scotland since 2021?

Response

The total marketing expenditure to date for the Scottish Government/NHS Scotland national donor gamete campaigns is £186,518,84.

In terms of the spend in 2024, there is currently a freeze on Scottish Government public sector marketing expenditure. This is necessary to ensure a balanced budget, so for this reason there is no national egg and sperm donation campaign this year. Whilst there is no national campaign taking place in 2024, the four NHS Assisted Conception Units in Scotland will be running their own campaigns during National Fertility Awareness Week which runs from 4 to 8 November 2024.

The number of sperm and egg donors recruited to date from the Scottish Government/NHS Scotland national donor gamete campaigns is as follows:

• 40 sperm donors
• 78 egg donors

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.