Bus ads target young women as IVF is hit by eggs shortage

SCOTLAND is facing an unprecedented shortage of eggs for IVF, with clinics now resorting to advertising on buses and on the radio for donors.

With many more women delaying starting a family, there is a growing demand for eggs from younger women to help them get pregnant.

However, there has also been a decline in the number of donors willing to give eggs, which experts believe is the result of new rules that allow women to be tracked down by their biological child 18 years after they donate.

Now, in an unprecedented attempt to tackle the growing egg shortage, NHS Scotland, private clinics and charities have begun a recruitment drive to try to encourage young women to donate.

The Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine (GCRM) – which has the largest donation programme in Scotland – has released a Be A Good Egg advert, which will be played on Capital FM radio station until December to try to reach potential young donors.

The Aberdeen Fertility Clinic is advertising through posters on buses, in train stations and sports and shopping centres.

The Fertility Network Scotland charity is giving talks to university and college students as part of their fertility education programme, while NHS boards are trying to raise awareness through posting messages on social media.

Last night, GCRM medical director Dr Marco Gaudoin said: ‘We need eggs, there is no doubt about it. This is the biggest egg shortage Scotland has faced, and we need to get the message out there and be proactive. Women are delaying having children, which means the quality of their eggs is declining.

‘Young eggs are better quality, and so there are many women who need eggs donated to them from younger women. But our waiting times are currently six months because there is such a lack of donors.’

Women who donate eggs cannot receive payment, though they are entitled to receive up to £750 in compensation and to have some of their expenses reimbursed.

While average waiting time for a donor is six months, women in northern areas can wait up to four years for treatment. As a result, women are travelling abroad.

Dr Gaudoin said 50 per cent of his in-house patients go to Spain, which is well regulated, but there were some unscrupulous overseas clinics that put older women at risk.