Egg donor scheme to increase IVF treatment

One of Britain's most eminent fertility specialists will propose a radical innovation today in the provision of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to boost the number of couples who can benefit from the treatment.

Brian Lieberman, the director of Manchester Fertility Services, will tell a meeting of colleagues this morning that he plans to remove the cloak of secrecy that surrounds egg donation and encourage infertile couples to find their own donors who would be involved in their treatment from start to finish.

Under current regulations, most couples who receive donated eggs do so anonymously but the shortage of women prepared to donate leads to long waiting lists for treatment.

Of 8,500 couples who have IVF treatment each year, 1,300 cases involve use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos. The shortage of donors is a particular problem for clinics and some have introduced egg sharing schemes to boost the supply.

Under an egg sharing arrangement, women in need of fertility treatment but who have healthy eggs are asked to donate their eggs anonymously in return for free treatment. The arrangement has been controversial for more than a decade because of the risk that clinics might put pressure on women to donate, to provide eggs for other patients.

Mr Lieberman, who has been a leading opponent of egg sharing in the past because of the risk of coercion, will propose an alternative arrangement, which he has called "ethical egg sharing".

Under this scheme, the donor and planned recipient of the eggs would know each other from the beginning of treatment. In most cases, the recipient would find the donor – by word of mouth or by advertising – and pay for the donor's treatment as well as their own.