The UK's fertility watchdog has agreed to triple the compensation given to women who donate eggs to help infertile couples to have a child.
Donors currently have their expenses paid and up to £250 to cover lost earnings.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has decided to pay a one-off fee of £750 per course of donation.
Experts believe this will encourage more women to donate, but critics warn it may create financial incentives.
Under EU rules a donor cannot be "paid", however, they can be "compensated".
Juliet Tizzard, head of policy at the HFEA, said the current rules did not work and "some donors are out of pocket and they do feel undervalued at times".
The decision to move to a one-off payment was made at a public meeting of the fertility watchdog on Wednesday. The idea was to balance fairly compensating donors with the risk of encouraging people to donate merely for financial gain.
The head of the HFEA, Prof Lisa Jardine said: "I believe it is fair.
"I find it very hard to see £750 as an inducement, I see it as fair reflection of the effort, the time and the pain."
However she said the figure was "a very highly educated guess at what will feel to people like compensation".
Invasive process
There are currently long waits in the UK - sometimes five years or more - for couples seeking donor eggs.
In a significant number of cases they travel abroad for treatment, often to Spain or the United States, where payments are higher and more women volunteer.
But there can be risks involved with having treatment in countries where regulations are less stringent.
Egg donation is an invasive process, which involves daily hormone injections, scans every couple of days, and day surgery to recover the eggs.
Side-effects range from mood swings, bloating and pain, to rare but severe over-reactions to the hormones.
No comments:
Post a Comment