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The fertility watchdog is to look at offering more generous compensation to egg and sperm donors as a means of tackling the severe shortage of supplies for those desperate for a baby.

But some are uneasy about the prospect of handing over significant amounts of cash for spare human parts, warning it may be a step too far towards the commodification of the body.

A group of feminists who dub themselves No2eggsploitation has written to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority registering their concerns, arguing that money could well induce poor, vulnerable women to undertake "significant health risks" involved in donation.

But this is really where the problem lies - and why some people feel so strongly donors should receive more in the way of compensation. Unlike the relatively straightforward process of donating sperm, offering eggs is a much more arduous process that is not risk free.

A female donor must effectively undergo a cycle of IVF herself, involving daily injections to stimulate her ovaries into releasing eggs which are then harvested under anaesthetic.

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The principle health...