Campaign to ease fears of egg donors

New concerns are being raised over the future of fertility treatment as the Government prepares to launch a campaign to encourage donors to help couples conceive.

There is already a critical shortage of people willing to donate eggs and sperm. The situation is expected to get worse when a change in the law ends donors' anonymity.

From April, once a child is 18, they will be able to request the identity of their donor "parents".

Research due to be published tomorrow is expected to show many parents of babies conceived with the help of donors have reservations about telling their children of their origins.

The campaign will highlight the problems and raise awareness of the benefits of donation. It will aim to dispel myths which put off potential donors, such as the mistaken belief that they could be obliged to financially and emotionally support a child.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is so concerned it has raised the idea of paying egg donors around ?1,000 and increasing the amount paid to sperm donors from the current ?15.