Making babies by artificial means is not without risk. Nina Thanki, 37, from Leicester, died in 2006 from a pulmonary embolism - a blood clot on her lung - triggered by the egg-retrieval procedure she had undergone just a few days earlier.
The previous year, Temilola Akinbolagbe, 33, collapsed at a bus stop in Croydon, South London, two days after hormone treatment prior to egg collection. She died of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, a usually mild condition that in her case caused a heart attack.
Both women were having IVF. However, they highlight the risks -though rare - to those donating eggs who undergo the same procedures to help ease the shortage of donor gametes in the UK.
Yesterday the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) recommended tripling the payments to egg donors from £250 to £750 to encourage more to come forward.
The authority sought to strike a balance between twin evils - enticing donors with financial inducements to take risks with their bodies; and leaving childless women unable to find an egg donor with no option but to seek...