£750 for your eggs

Thousands of Cambridge students have been targeted by a firm offering up to £750 to egg donors.

Leaflets were stuck in their university pigeonholes, making an emotional plea to help a couple unable to have children.

It said: ‘We are looking for a real-life angel to be our egg donor.’

The development appears to be a result of an increase in the amount of ‘compensation’ that can be given to donors, and may confirm fears of a rise in ‘egg brokers’ profiting from dealing in human lives.

The targeting of elite students also raises concerns about attempts to create ‘superbabies’.

Last night critics warned that young women are often unaware of the risks of egg donation, and a fertility expert said the firm’s tactics were ‘unacceptable’. Donors have to take drugs to stimulate egg production, and complications may cause death in rare cases.

At the beginning of the summer term two weeks ago, Cambridge students found the company’s leaflets stuffed in their pigeonholes, asking: ‘If you are compassionate, kind, healthy and between 18 and 35 years old, could you help...