2008, and finally receiving Royal Assent on 13 November 2008. The HFE Act 2008 updates the law to ensure it is fit for purpose in the 21st century. It is divided into three parts: amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 parenthood miscellaneous and general. The main new elements of the Act are: ensuring that the creation and use of all human embryos outside the body – whatever the process used in their creation – are subject to regulation a ban on selecting the sex of offspring for social reasons continuing to require that clinics take account of "the welfare of the child" when providing fertility treatment, and replacing the previous requirement that they also take account of the child's "need for a father" with "supportive parenting" allowing for the recognition of both partners in a same-sex relationship as legal parents of children conceived through the use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos enabling people in same sex relationships and unmarried couples to apply for an order allowing for them to be treated as the parents of a child born using a surrogate changing restrictions on the use of data collected by the HFEA to make it easier to conduct research using this information provisions clarifying the scope of legitimate embryo research activities, including regulation of "human admixed embryos" (embryos combining both human and animal material). Current responsibilities The current statutory functions of the HFEA, as a regulator under the HFE Acts 1990 and 2008 and other legislation include: license and monitor clinics carrying out in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and donor insemination license and monitor establishments undertaking human embryo research maintain a register of licences held by clinics, research establishments and storage centres regulate storage of gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos implement the requirements of the European Union Tissue and Cells Directive (EUTCD) to relicense IVF clinics and to license Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) and other services. Policy decisions As of 2017, centres receiving sperm donation could distribute sperm to no more families than the number specified by the donor, and the donor could not specify more than ten. In October and November 2007, the HFEA decided on a policy to reduce multiple births from fertility treatment. This forms part of a wider national strategy to reduce the risk of multiple births from fertility treatment involving professional bodies, patient groups and NHS-funding bodies. Multiple