But the true extent of the problem is largely unknown because there are no official figures on waiting lists for sperm and eggdonation around the country or data on the number of British patients travelling abroad for treatment.
The body that regulates IVF clinics in the UK, the Human Fertilisation Embryo Authority (HFEA), concedes that provision is "patchy" in parts of the country but says both sperm and eggdonation was falling long before the change in the law.