IMAGINE never being able to have a child. For some couples that is a reality. Reporter VICTORIA BIRCH speaks to fertility experts at The Chiltern Hospital who try to make people's dreams come true thanks to the altruism of women who donate their own eggs .

The gift of life is a special thing and for many it does not come cheap.

Some couples are desperate for a baby but they are not able to have one because of infertility.

Many have to wait for two years or more in the desperate hope of finding egg donors and pay thousands of pounds for treatments.

The Lakeside Suite at The Chiltern Hospital, London Road, Great Missenden, specialises in in vitro fertilisation treatment (IVF) for couples who need egg donors.

Julian Norman-Taylor, a fertility specialist at the hospital, said it can be a difficult time for people who cannot have children.

He said: "From a biological point of view it is an easy procedure but it is an emotional, psychological and a social problem.

"They feel they are letting their partner down. They try to have children and if it is denied, they feel that it is the only reason for their life and they are not fulfilled."

He added that it is difficult to find donors as it is a completely altruistic act people do not often come forward to offer their eggs.

"The egg donors come from anonymous people and they pick up the idea from media, friends or the recipient and people who are doing something called egg share.

"That is when people who have IVF cannot afford it, and they agree to donate half their eggs and get that lot free."

Legally egg donors, who have to be under the age of 35, are not allowed to be paid, and it is heavily regulated so they cannot receive any donations.

Mr Norman-Taylor said: "Some clinics tried to get off it with expenses and they cannot do that.

"There are people who would be quite willing to do it until they know it takes them a significant time and a small operation.

"It's quite an involved operation. We give certain hormones, by injection, so instead of making them have the usual one egg, they make eight or ten and that takes about ten days."

He added that there is also the need for an egg collection from the ovaries.

However there are questions surrounding the procedure, including the donor knowing that their child will be born without ever knowing their "real" mum.

Mr Norman-Taylor said: "Some people see that as a comforting thing a bit of them is running around somewhere.

"They can, through the gift of donating eggs, bring the joy and fulfilment of having a child to a couple who wouldn't be able to.

"The evidence so far is that the children are as loved as any other child and there are on-going studies into the issue.

"My own experience of seeing couples with donated eggs, is that the children are so incredibly highly valued and the couples say time and time again what an amazing joy has brought to them.

"We have a party here once a year called the 'baby party' for the children and couples.

"I know which couples are of donated eggs and it is nice for me to be able to monitor what's going on."

He added that in ten years' time there won't be a knock on the door to say "hello mum".

He said: "There is no way they will be able to find out who the genetic mother is.

"Interestingly enough, if for some reason they suspect they are related to a half-brother, and they are about to get married to them, there is a provision for them to find out within the law. It would be illegal to marry them then, but it would be pretty unlikely."

Mr Norman-Taylor added that some couples want to be able to choose the type of woman the eggs come from.

"We had a particularly tall, skinny blonde woman and a tall man in London, and they wanted a donation from a beautiful blonde donor," he said.

"It has been an interesting debate in London. There was a case where a woman wanted a white baby and she was half-caste.

"It was all addressed by the ethics committee and passed.

"However she went through all that trouble, and I don't think anything happened."

Six years of IVF and still no baby

FRANCESCA Macdonald, 45, has been trying to get pregnant for six years and says she split up with her first husband after 14 years as he didn't want children.

She said: "The whole thing is painful, expensive and emotionally draining. Being in tears watching babies in prams, seeing everyone getting what you want. It won't ever be yours genetically, and you have to start accepting it."

She said: "I have been married twice and I didn't know about any fertility problems. I was getting on to 39 and nothing happened. I have had a variety of fertility treatments and started with the basics.

"I have had IVF which gives you a better chance I have had three lots of that. It all takes a very long time."

Fertility drops from the age of 35, which, she says gives very little time to sort out the problem.

She said: "I had my first egg at the Chiltern Hospital and that's four years ago. It is not an ideal situation. Some people advertise and they spend thousands and thousands to find someone. One per cent come through adverts."

"We have had four lots of egg donors by three different women. I haven't done any this year because we haven't had any donors.

"We have had our life on hold.

"We won't do this or that or move house as I might get pregnant. You get desperate.

"You can never have a family and an awful lot is taken for granted. It's devastating to go through cycles of treatment and pay thousands of pounds and nothing happens.

"And time is going by."

Fact box

The eggs are collected in a special fluid and each is examined under a microscope before being put into a dish together with the sperm which has also been specially prepared from a fresh or frozen specimen.

Fertilisation takes from 12 to 15 hours and is confirmed under a microscope.

The embryos are transferred through the cervix into the womb by using a fine plastic tube. Usually more than one embryo is transferred to give a better chance of having a baby.

A clinic cannot transfer more than three embryos. This is to reduce the chance of multiple pregnancies which can be dangerous.

While IVF has enabled couples to have children, the treatment is not always successful. In 1994 17.9 per cent of all treatment cycles resulted in pregnancy and 14.1 per cent of treatment cycles resulted in a baby.

For comparison, the average monthly chance of conceiving for a fertile couple having regular intercourse is 20 to 25 per cent.

IVF pregnancies are more likely to result in a miscarriage than conventional pregnancies. This may be because women undergoing IVF are older and more likely to have other fertility problems than the rest of the population.

If you would like further information contact the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on 020 7377 5077.