Use of frozen eggs in assisted reproduction now allowed in UK

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Britain's decision on Tuesday to lift its ban on preventing women from using frozen eggs in fertility treatments could soon lead to the establishment of human egg banks, a leading fertility expert said on Tuesday.

Dr Mohamed Taranissi, the director of the only British clinic licensed to freeze human eggs, welcomed the decision and said it will help many people. "We are very pleased. It just confirms what we have said all along that the treatment is safe," he told Reuters.

Taranissi, whose Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre is storing the eggs of 50 women, said the first procedure using a thawed egg could take place within weeks.

In addition to lifting the ban on a woman using her own frozen eggs, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)--the body that regulates fertility treatment in Britain--opened the door for women to donate frozen eggs to others.

"This will open a lot of applications. You will definitely have a situation like egg banks very soon. I'm sure it will happen," Taranissi added.

The HFEA announced its decision after reviewing scientific evidence. The procedure, which has been used successfully in Italy and the United States, had been banned in Britain to guard against any potential risk to the child.

"We can only make our decisions based on firm medical evidence. We are pleased that we now have that evidence giving hope to those women who could otherwise have been made infertile," HFEA chief Ruth Deech said in a statement.

Women in Britain had been allowed to have their eggs frozen but until now had been prevented from thawing them and using them in fertility treatment. They had hoped that the law would change by the time they came to use the stored eggs.

The HFEA decision means that women suffering from illnesses such as cancer can have their eggs frozen before undergoing treatments that could make them infertile. The technique can also be used by career women wanting to delay having children.

Dr Sharon Paynter of the University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff, who produced an independent report commissioned by the HFEA, said women undergoing the procedure should be advised of the risks and the chances of success.