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A ban on the sale of sperm and eggs is to be reconsidered.
The head of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the Government's fertility watchdog, said today she would reassess strict rules enforced in 2006 which prevent would-be parents offering money for donors.
Professor Lisa Jardine said the national shortage of donors in the UK was forcing childless British couples to travel abroad for fertility treatment.
"Given the evidence that egg shortage is driving women overseas, I feel a responsibility to look at it again," she said.
Her move has raised concerns about a market in human tissue and exploitation of women as egg donation is invasive and involves an element of risk.
Some critics have also pointed out that introducing a "free market" could see highly educated, young professional women able to charge higher rates for eggs because of the quality of their genes. Others claim offering money could exclude some couples wanting children because it becomes too costly on top of IVF cycles.
Laura Witchens, chairman of the National Gamete Donation Trust, said any plans in line with American "eggs to the highest bidder" model would have to be carefully scrutinised.
"In the US a Harvard graduate with blonde hair, long legs, straight teeth and blue eyes can get more money than a short, stocky girl in glasses who works in Walmart," she said. "It is a problem because you are reducing human life to a commodity like buying a dress or a new pair of shoes.
"The system needs to be looked at but we have to get the balance right. We run the risk of turning [donation] into a money-making exercise for young women who may not appreciate the health risks attached.
"We live in a society where the importance of what we do is judged by how much we are paid. But how can you put a price tag on a baby?"
Professor Jardine argued that a transparent system of donation would make it easier for the authority to set standards.
Asked whether payment would encourage women in debt to take risks with their health, she said: "Every one of my undergraduates is £3,000 in debt in their first year, up to £15,000 by their third year. I can well imagine some of them doing egg donation, in fact I know some of them who have in the US. We don't have anything to say about that. We don't regulate it."
Gedis Grudzinskas, a consultant gynaecologist and fertility consultant in Harley Street, said he expected donors in the UK to end up being paid between £1,000 and £5,000 a time.
But he said a 2005 law which removed donors' right to anonymity - donor rates fell 25 per cent after its introduction - was a bigger issue.
"Donor anonymity is an issue which is not going to go away, even if we pay more," he said. "It is a huge barrier."
