Each year around 3000 couples are diagnosed as having problems in achieving a viable pregnancy.
When the problem is with the would-be mother's production of ova, or human egg cells, one treatment alternative is to use the eggs of donors. Most healthy women between the ages of 20 and 35 are eligible to donate eggs.
Donors do not have to be mothers themselves and donating eggs does not affect the donor's own possibilities of having children.
One of the main practical differences between donating eggs and donating sperm is that women who intend to have their eggs harvested must first undergo a few weeks of hormone treatments.
Under the terms of legislation that came into force in 2007, any child born to a couple that has used donor cells has the right to the identity of his or her biological parents upon reaching the age of majority. In contrast, the donor has no automatic right to information about any child, nor do people accepting donated cells have a right to information about the donor.