Childless couple's egg donor adverts

Caron Barnes, aged 42, says her biological clock is ticking

A childless couple are searching for an egg donor by handing out leaflets and putting up posters in local bars.

Caron Barnes, aged 42, from Bangor, Gwynedd, has been undergoing IVF treatment for the last six years.

Following an unsuccessful attempt to conceive, she says it may be too late if she waits the six to nine months for a second donor to become available.

She and husband Damian have instead launched a public appeal for a donor.

The pair have put up bilingual posters in a number of businesses in the town, including shops and colleges.

Mr Barnes, a gardener, and Mrs Barnes, a housekeeper, said a number had been taken down by people who believe the posters are "inappropriate" or the subject is "taboo".

The couple said they had had to go to Manchester to pay for IVF treatment because they could not get it on the NHS in Wales.

Mr Barnes placed posters appealing for donors in his local pub

From next year, childless women under 40 needing IVF will be offered one free course of treatment on the Welsh NHS

Mrs Barnes, who has had two ectopic pregnancies - where the fertilised egg becomes implanted outside of the womb - said she was determined to continue her appeal as her biological clock was ticking.

She said giving birth was "such a natural thing for women to do".

"When you realise that you can't do that, you don't feel quite whole any more.

"I can't explain what it would mean. It is the beginning and the end. It is everything."

Mr Barnes has even put up posters in his local pub.

Alan Jones, landlord of The Skerries said: "He's a regular customer here, so if there's anything we can do to help - it's certainly created a bit of interest."

The couple said they had a good response from newspaper appeals but many of those who had contacted them were put off when they found out how time-consuming it was.

'Altruistic donors'

Mrs Barnes added: "I didn't want to sit about and wait any more, so I decided to do something about it. It's very important to us."

But a fertility expert said the couple should consider investing in a shared egg donor, in which women aged under 35 undergoing IVF donate half of their eggs to another client of the clinic.

Peter Bowen-Simpkins, director of the Cromwell IVF and Fertility Centre based at Singleton Hospital, Swansea, said the move could cut her wait to as little as six weeks.

Mr Bowen-Simpkins, who is also a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said her case was typical of hundreds of women in the UK because of the shortage of donor eggs.

He said: "We deal with such cases every day of the week. The results with (shared) donor eggs are as successful as if she was under 35.

"We and other units have tried appealing for altruistic donors but the results are extremely poor."

He said the chance of conception with a shared-donor egg was good, at about 30% for each £4,000 treatment.