Childless couples denied as anonymity loss scares egg and sperm donors

The removal of anonymity from sperm and egg donors has provoked a crisis in fertility treatment that is denying couples the chance to try for a baby.

Infertility therapy with donated sperm has collapsed to the lowest levels since records began, according to the first official figures, seen by The Times, since the Government banned anonymous donation in 2005.

The number of women treated with donated sperm fell by about 20 per cent, from 2,727 in 2005 to 2,107 in 2006, the first full year after the change. The number of donor insemination treatment cycles fell by 30 per cent over the same period.

Egg donation is also in serious decline: the number of treatments using “shared” eggs, offered by women in return for a discount on IVF, fell by 40 per cent between 2004 and 2006.