The government's fertility regulator today approved plans for women to donate their eggs altruistically for medical research.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) approved recommendations by its ethics and law committee that women who are not themselves undergoing fertility treatment should be permitted to donate their eggs.
In return, donors will be able to receive a small amount of compensation for loss of earnings, as well as travel expenses.
However, the HFAE stressed that this would not amount to a considerable sum.
"We need to remind people we are not talking about earnings, we are talking about compensation up to a maximum which is not great, and is comparable to jury service," said Lord Richard Harries, a member of the HFEA.
The HFEA also said women should be allowed to donate through "egg-sharing" schemes, in which they receive discounted In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in return for handing over eggs to stem cell researchers.
Previously, women have only been able to donate spare eggs produced through IVF or gynaecological treatment, such as sterilisation.
The eggs will be used to bolster limited supplies provided by fertility clinics to scientists who use them to create cloned embryos. Stem cells harvested from the embryos are expected to provide unprecedented insights into medical conditions such as Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.
The plan has prompted opposition from some groups, who believe hormonal treatments used to stimulate women's ovaries to produce eggs may be too risky to justify altruistic egg donation. In a small percentage of cases, women receiving IVF treatment develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which in extremely rare cases can be fatal.
Emily Jackson, professor of medical law at Queen Mary, University of London, said although media attention had focused on the risks, egg donation would be strictly regulated and carry far lower risks than taking part in clinical trials.
She said: "The emphasis on the risks is really regrettable because women who are about to have IVF will be under the impression it's an incredibly dangerous thing to do, but the risks are incredibly low."
The decision follows a six-month public consultation by the HFEA, which has already granted a licence to a fertility clinic in Newcastle, allowing women to donate eggs for research.
