SHREG 2026 – a warm and welcoming meeting

Each year, the Scottish Human Reproduction and Embryology Group (SHREG) delivers a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. They hold a meeting in Dundee, this year on a sunny Friday and Saturday in May, to gathers newbies and experts alike.

The conference began with a presentation from Dr. Kay Elder, a distinguished scientist and physician, who worked closely with Dr. Patrick Steptoe and Prof. Sir Bob Edwards. This was an extremely inspirational talk where Dr. Elder presented “lessons from history.” I felt honoured to be able to learn from someone who has worked in the field since the very beginning. The insightful presentations continued into the afternoon, ending with a debate entitled, “This House Believes that Gamete Donors should be Compensated for Expenses.” This sparked a passionate but healthy debate on a very current topic relevant to Scottish fertility units.

Compensation for Scottish donors?

In Scottish NHS fertility centres, gamete donors are not currently compensated for their expenses. During the debate, the reasons for compensation included how the reimbursement of travel and time could make gamete donation more accessible. This could help overcome the national shortage of donor gametes. Furthermore, the HFEA allows clinics to compensate donors up to £45 per sperm donation and £985 per egg donation. This means providing compensation would align with other countries and institutions. Due to being in close proximity to centres offering compensation, donors are likely to opt to donate there, creating longer waiting lists for the Scottish NHS centres. Reasons against compensation included the attempt to align with other organ and tissue donations. This is because in the future, gametes will be stored centrally alongside other donated organs and tissues. Despite the centralisation of storage, the vast majority of the audience voted in favour of compensating our donors for facilitating the creation of life.

Presenting my study

After a delicious dinner, we were back the following morning for some more networking and interesting talks, including the short oral communications section. This segment of the conference provided an opportunity for students and juniors in the field to present. I was delighted to present Edinburgh Fertility Centre’s project on “Giving patients the option to take home their surplus unused embryos.” To allow patients to take home their embryos, we had to be confident they would not resume development and were safe for patients to take home. Therefore, in this project, we trialled various time periods of exposing embryos to ambient conditions to render them non-viable. In addition, we built a service to facilitate handing over embryos to patients in a dignified manner to help them find closure to their fertility journey. The questions and comments that followed my presentation highlighted to me how clinics can operate so differently while complying with identical regulations.

Presenting at the SHREG meeting saw me step out of my comfort zone but provided me with an opportunity to gain feedback and engage with professionals across the field. A highlight was receiving the prize for Best Oral Presentation!

A warm welcome

I have attended the SHREG meeting three times – the first being as a Masters student in 2024 – and already the weekend in May felt like a reunion rather than a networking event. I am grateful to SHREG for always providing a warm and welcoming atmosphere and giving young and new people in the field a platform for building confidence and growing into a well-rounded scientist.

Thank you also to ARCS for awarding me with a travel grant to attend the conference, which enabled me to gain invaluable experience, aiding both my professional and personal development.