WOULD-BE fathers are being offered the chance to exchange sperm for fertility treatment amid a massive shortage of donors in Scotland.

Although payment for sperm donations is banned by law, a Scottish clinic is allowing couples where the man is healthy to swap semen for services he and his partner need. The controversial decision has been taken by Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine (GCRM) amid a dearth of sperm donations.

Legal changes which allow offspring to find out their donor father's name are thought to have led to the severe shortage.

However, demand remains high from couples where the man has fertility problems, as well as from lesbian partners and single women.

The directors of GCRM, based in Cardonald Business Park, say people call seeking donor sperm every week and have to be turned away. The centre, opened by NHS specialists last September, had purchased enough supplies from Manchester for 10 couples.

However, this rapidly ran out and they have had no stock since March. Now GCRM is launching an advertising campaign at Scottish train stations seeking both sperm and egg donors.

The adverts mention a service already carried out at GCRM, known as egg-sharing. This is where a woman undergoing IVF shares some of her eggs with a woman who cannot produce her own. In return, the recipient pays for most of the donor's treatment.

In addition, the adverts promote sperm-sharing for the first time. In contrast to egg-sharing, it is GCRM which will fund a couple's treatment costs in return for the semen.

Professor Richard Fleming, centre director, said: "Because one sperm donor can generally provide up to 10 treatments for other needy recipients we decided that we should bear the costs. It is called a payment in kind, which appears to be allowed under the guidelines of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority."

Gemma Wilkie, of the HFEA, confirmed the practice was permitted under their regulations. She said: "You cannot be paid. You cannot be given money, but clinics are allowed to provide a compensation in the form of a reduced-cost of treatment."