A fertility clinic in London is set to launch Britain’s first egg bank to help women in their 40s to have children.
The Harley Street clinic will charge up to £10,000 for the treatment whilst donors will be paid £750 for their eggs.
Characteristics
The scheme will permit women to choose a donor based on characteristics such as eye colour and intelligence.
But critics argue that the new regime raises “fundamental ethical questions” and could result in the vulnerable donors opting-in without a full understanding of the risks involved.
Drugs used to increase egg production before donation can cause a potentially fatal condition called ovarian hyper stimulation.
Vulnerable
Josephine Quintavalle, of campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: “With money so scarce at the moment one can imagine vulnerable young women considering this a useful way to make ends meet.”
Anna Smajdor, a medical ethicist at the University of East Anglia, said: "The new egg bank may reduce the incentives to buy eggs from abroad.
"But it represents another step towards the separation of reproductive processes into commodifiable components, a process that in itself raises fundamental ethical questions."
Damage
Leading expert, Professor Mary Herbert said that women should have children before the age of 35 since their chances of conception are reduced by chromosomal damage which is untreatable by fertility treatment.
She added: “What we can say for sure is that reproductive technologies do not do much to buy time.
“Perhaps the most important message to give is that the best cure of all is to have your babies before this clock strikes 12.
“I would be getting worried about my daughter if she hadn't had a child by 35.”
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