Discounts on IVF for Egg Donors in UK

Newcastle Fertility Centre is offering women in northeastern England a £1500 discount on their IVF bills if they donate some of their eggs for therapeutic cloning and stem-cell research purposes. A spokesperson for the Centre commented that this will reduce the cost of IVF for some women, and that the donation poses no risks beyond those that accompany the IVF procedure; critics call the scheme "lunacy" and worry that it will pressure less wealthy infertile women into research donation. Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority has approved the practice, and the BBC reports that the Centre is receiving Medical Research Council funding for its "egg-sharing" scheme. The BBC report appears here.