Compensation paid to egg and sperm donors will increase under proposals expected to be endorsed by the UK's fertility regulator.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is poised to approve higher payments in an effort to tackle serious shortages of both eggs and sperm, which are prompting growing numbers of British couples to seek fertility treatment abroad.
Currently anyone who donates either sperm or eggs can receive any travel expenses they have incurred and compensation for loss of earnings of up to £61.28 a day but no more than £250 in total for each cycle of donation.
The authority is expected to ratify plans for raising that limit to £750 for egg donors and paying sperm donors £35 for each visit to a clinic.
It believes the new fees will better reward people's altruism in helping others start families without setting sums so high that they would become bribes.
"These figures are based broadly on comparators within the EU, a sense of what time and lifestyle alternations donors are required to make and an acknowledgement of the communal and incredibly generous act people perform through the act of donation," the authority said.
The authority's recommendations, which follow an in-depth review of an issue that involves sensitive medical, ethical and social issues, are due to be agreed at its monthly meeting in London.
Source: The Guardian