The latest guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) for professionals is available here.
During the pandemic, the HFEA has been monitoring the latest scientific literature to better understand the effect that COVID-19 is having on fertility, assisted conception and early pregnancy. They have noted the following papers (which are not a comprehensive list of all relevant papers), provided here for information only:
- Rajput SK, Logsdon DM, Kile B, Engelhorn HJ, Goheen B, Khan S, Swain J, McCormick S, Schoolcraft WB, Yuan Y, Krisher RL. Human eggs, zygotes, and embryos express the receptor ACE2 and protease TMPRSS2 protein necessary for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fertility & Sterility Science. 2020 Dec 24. doi: 10.1016/j.xfss.2020.12.005. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33521687; PMCID: PMC7831752.
- Virant-Klun I, Strle F. Human Oocytes Express Both ACE2 and BSG Genes and Corresponding Proteins: Is SARS-CoV-2 Infection Possible? Stem Cell Reviews & Reports. 2021 Jan 5:1–7. doi: 10.1007/s12015-020-10101-x. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33403489; PMCID: PMC7785127.
- Barragan M, Guillén J J, Martin-Palomino N, Rodriguez A, Vassena R. Undetectable viral RNA in oocytes from SARS-CoV-2 positive women Human Reproduction. 2021 Jan 25;36(2):390-394. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deaa284. PMID: 32998162; PMCID: PMC7543480.
- Essahib W, Verheyen G, Tournaye H, Van de Velde H. SARS-CoV-2 host receptors ACE2 and CD147 (BSG) are present on human oocytes and blastocysts. Journal of Assisted Reproduction & Genetics. 2020 Nov;37(11):2657-2660. doi: 10.1007/s10815-020-01952-x. Epub 2020 Sep 21. PMID: 32959144; PMCID: PMC7505486.
- Weatherbee BAT, Glover DM, Zernicka-Goetz M. 2020 Expression of SARSCoV-2 receptor ACE2 and the protease TMPRSS2 suggests susceptibility of the human embryo in the first trimester. Open Biology. 10: 200162. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsob.200162
- Atyeo C, Pullen KM, Bordt EA, Fischinger S, Burke J, Michell A, Slein MD, Loos C, Shook LL, Boatin AA, Yockey LJ, Pepin D, Meinsohn MC, Nguyen NMP, Chauvin M, Roberts D, Goldfarb IT, Matute JD, James KE, Yonker LM, Bebell LM, Kaimal AJ, Gray KJ, Lauffenburger D, Edlow AG, Alter G. Compromised SARS-CoV-2-specific placental antibody transfer. Cell. 2021 Feb 4;184(3):628-642.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.12.027. Epub 2020 Dec 23. PMID: 33476549; PMCID: PMC7755577.
- Tian, Yu, & Zhou, L. (2021). Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on male reproduction, Reproduction, 161(2), R37-R44. Retrieved Feb 9, 2021, from https://rep.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/rep/161/2/REP-20-0523.xml
- Ma, X., Guan, C., Chen, R. et al. Pathological and molecular examinations of postmortem testis biopsies reveal SARS-CoV-2 infection in the testis and spermatogenesis damage in COVID-19 patients. Cellular Molecular Immunology 18, 487–489 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-020-00604-5
- Sheikhzadeh Hesari F, Hosseinzadeh SS, Asl Monadi Sardroud MA. Review of COVID-19 and male genital tract. 2021 Feb;53(1):e13914. doi: 10.1111/and.13914. Epub 2020 Nov 24. PMID: 33236375; PMCID: PMC7744899
- Esteves SC, Lombardo F, Garrido N, Alvarez J, Zini A, Colpi GM, Kirkman-Brown J, Lewis SEM, Björndahl L, Majzoub A, Cho CL, Vendeira P, Hallak J, Amar E, Cocuzza M, Bento FC, Figueira RC, Sciorio R, Laursen RJ, Metwalley AM, Jindal SK, Parekattil S, Ramasamy R, Alviggi C, Humaidan P, Yovich JL, Agarwal SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and repercussions for male infertility patients: A proposal for the individualized provision of andrological services. Andrology. 2021 Jan;9(1):10-18. doi: 10.1111/andr.12809. Epub 2020 May 22. PMID: 32357288; PMCID: PMC7267121.
- Bhattacharya S, Maheshwari A, Ratna MB, van Eekelen R, Mol BW, McLernon DJ, Prioritizing IVF treatment in the post-COVID 19 era: a predictive modelling study based on UK national data, Human Reproduction, 2020;, deaa339, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deaa339
- Smith ADAC, Gromski PS, Rashid KA, Tilling K, Lawlor DA, Nelson SM. Population implications of cessation of IVF during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reproductive Biomedicine Online. 2020 Sep;41(3):428-430. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2020.07.002. Epub 2020 Jul 6. PMID: 32753362; PMCID: PMC7336906.
- Allotey J, Stallings E, Bonet M, Yap M, Chatterjee S, Kew T, Debenham L, Llavall AC, Dixit A, Zhou D, Balaji R, Lee SI, Qiu X, Yuan M, Coomar D, van Wely M, van Leeuwen E, Kostova E, Kunst H, Khalil A, Tiberi S, Brizuela V, Broutet N, Kara E, Kim CR, Thorson A, Oladapo OT, Mofenson L, Zamora J, Thangaratinam S; for PregCOV-19 Living Systematic Review Consortium. Clinical manifestations, risk factors, and maternal and perinatal outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnancy: living systematic review and meta-analysis. 2020 Sep 1;370:m3320. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m3320. PMID: 32873575; PMCID: PMC7459193.
Publication date: 9 April 2026