Britain's fertility regulator is planning big changes to the strict rules governing egg and sperm donation in order to try to stop more childless couples from seeking treatment abroad.
The sweeping liberalisation would see the most significant shift in policy governing sperm and egg donation since the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) was established.
The changes could see the amount paid to women who donate eggs rise from £250 to several thousand pounds – but experts have warned the move would see women donating eggs purely for money.
Donated sperm could also be used to start as many as 20 families rather than the current limit of 10, despite fears such a move would increase the risk of half-siblings unwittingly marrying or having children together.
The HFEA intends to make donor-assisted conception easier by reducing the chronic shortages of donated eggs and sperm. Many fertility clinics have waiting lists of two years, and one in seven couples faces fertility problems.
"We want to remove obstacles to donation," an HFEA spokeswoman said. "There are waiting lists of various lengths for people wanting to get access to treatment with donor eggs or sperm. We want to see if our policies are contributing to an unnecessary delay".
The number of Britons opting to go to countries such as Spain and Cyprus to obtain eggs or sperm has persuaded the authority to consider how well the current system is working, she added. Experts fear some fertility centres overseas may offer substandard treatment, and the HFEA is worried that some people are turning to the internet in their desperation to acquire sperm, which may not have been screened to exclude the risk of genetic diseases.
HFEA members and leading fertility doctors agree that an overhaul is necessary, but are divided about what to do. At the moment, paying egg and sperm donors is banned, and they can only receive £250 in lieu of loss of earnings for their action. The Guardian
