First, Your Embryos Are Safe
If you have just found out your clinic is closing, take a breath. Your embryos are not at risk because of the news itself. They are still frozen, still stored at minus 196 degrees, still exactly as they were yesterday. A clinic closing does not mean your embryos are about to be lost. It means they need a new home, and you have time to choose it.
I say this first because the panic is the hardest part. We speak to patients who have read a letter from their clinic and assumed the worst. The reality is more manageable than it feels in that first hour. Embryos are moved between clinics all the time, for all sorts of reasons, and a clinic closure is simply one of them.
What matters now is that you act, rather than wait. Your embryos belong to you. The clinic cannot do anything with them without your instruction, but you do need to give that instruction within the time you are offered.
A closing clinic must give you notice and the opportunity to move your embryos to another licensed clinic. They are transferred in a cryogenic dry shipper, not destroyed, provided you respond and confirm where you want them sent.
What the Closure Notice Actually Means
When a clinic closes, it has to tell its patients. The letter or email you receive is a formal notice, and it usually does three things. It tells you the clinic is ceasing storage. It asks you to decide what you want done with your embryos. And it gives you a deadline to respond.
Read it carefully, because the deadline matters. A clinic that is winding down in an orderly way will often give several weeks or months. A clinic in financial trouble may give less. Whatever the timeframe, treat it as the date by which your decision needs to be made and communicated, not the date you should start thinking about it.
If the notice is unclear, or you cannot reach the clinic, that is worth flagging early. In the UK, the regulator that oversees fertility storage will not let licensed embryos simply disappear, and there are processes for clinics that close unexpectedly. But the smoothest outcome by far is the one where you respond to the notice and direct the move yourself.
Check Your Storage Consent Is Still Valid
This is the step patients most often miss, and it can cause real delay. To move your embryos, your consent to their storage needs to be current. Consent can lapse, and if it has, that needs to be put right before anything moves.
Ask the clinic directly whether your storage consent is up to date. If it is not, ask what they need from you to renew it. This is usually a form, and it is usually quick, but it has to be done before a transfer can be arranged. Sorting it out at the same time as choosing your new clinic saves you from discovering the problem at the worst possible moment.
Storage consent in the UK has time limits and has to be renewed periodically. A clinic closure is a good prompt to confirm yours is current. If you are unsure, ask the clinic to check their records and tell you in writing.
Choosing Where Your Embryos Go
You have a real choice here, and it is yours to make. You can move your embryos to another clinic near you, to a clinic in a different part of the country, or to a clinic abroad if that is where you intend to have treatment. The right answer depends on where you are in your journey.
If you were already planning treatment, the obvious destination is the clinic that will carry it out. If you simply need your embryos stored somewhere safe while you decide what happens next, then a storage clinic close to home may make more sense. There is no wrong answer, and you are not committing to treatment by moving your embryos. You are just giving them a secure place to be.
Take the time to confirm the receiving clinic is licensed and willing to accept your embryos before the move is booked. Most are well used to receiving transfers and will tell you what they need from their side.
How the Move Actually Happens
Once you have chosen a receiving clinic, the transfer itself follows a clear path. Your embryos are kept at minus 196 degrees throughout, which is the temperature of liquid nitrogen vapour, and that temperature cannot be interrupted. That is why a specialist courier is used rather than an ordinary delivery service.
On the day, we arrive at the closing clinic with a pre-charged cryogenic dry shipper. The embryologist verifies your embryos against the records, transfers them into the shipper under strict identification protocols, and signs the handover documentation. The embryos travel in the cabin with the courier, never in cargo, so they are watched over for the whole journey. On arrival, the receiving embryologist verifies them again, confirms the vessel and seal are intact, and moves them into storage. The chain of custody is documented at every step.
You do not need to be present. We coordinate directly with both clinics and keep you updated as the embryos move, so you always know where they are.
Who Pays for the Transfer
In most cases the patient pays for the transport to the new clinic. Some closing clinics contribute to the cost or cover it entirely, particularly where the closure is planned, so it is always worth asking the closing clinic directly what they will pay for.
The cost of the transport itself depends mainly on distance and whether the move is domestic or international. A transfer between two clinics in the same country costs less than an international move that needs export and import documentation. We give clear, itemised quotes so you know exactly what you are paying for, with no vague figures.
If Your New Clinic Is Abroad
Moving embryos to a clinic in another country is entirely possible, and we do it regularly. It simply takes more preparation than a domestic move, because export and import documentation has to be arranged, and from the UK an HFEA export licence may be required. According to general regulatory frameworks, the receiving country may also have its own import requirements that need to be met before the embryos arrive.
The practical message is to start early. If your closing clinic has given you a tight deadline and your chosen clinic is overseas, tell us as soon as you can so the documentation can be started in parallel with everything else. The transport is straightforward. The paperwork is what sets the timeline.
If your clinic has given you a deadline to respond, the single most useful thing you can do is choose your receiving clinic quickly. Everything else, including documentation and the transport itself, can be arranged around that decision once it is made.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to my embryos if my IVF clinic closes?
They remain your property and stay frozen while arrangements are made. The closing clinic must give you notice and the chance to move them to another licensed clinic. They are transferred in a cryogenic dry shipper by a specialist courier, not destroyed, as long as you respond to the notice and confirm where you want them sent.
How long do I have to move my embryos?
It depends on the clinic. An orderly closure usually comes with several weeks or months of notice. A clinic in difficulty may give less. Read your notice carefully, confirm your storage consent is current, and choose a receiving clinic quickly so the transfer can be arranged inside the notice period.
Who pays to move embryos from a closing clinic?
Usually the patient, though some closing clinics contribute or cover the cost. Ask the closing clinic directly what they will pay for, then get a clear quote for the transport. The cost depends on distance and whether the move is domestic or international.
Can I move my embryos abroad if my clinic closes?
Yes. International moves are possible and routine, they simply need export and import documentation and, from the UK, may require an HFEA export licence. Because the paperwork sets the timeline, start the conversation as early as you can if your chosen clinic is overseas.
Embryo Links coordinates transfers from closing clinics across the UK and internationally. We handle the documentation, liaise with both clinics, and keep your embryos at the correct temperature every step of the way. Talk to us and we will tell you exactly what is involved.
Chat on WhatsAppLast reviewed: 17 July 2026.