Now British couples can adopt an embryo

Britain's first embryo adoption service is to be launched by the end of the year.

An American company is planning to bring the service to the UK to allow couples who have undergone IVF treatment to offer any unwanted embryos for adoption.

Following a screening process, embryos are sent to prospective parents and implanted into the surrogate mother's womb.

Until now there has been no easy way for two sets of prospective parents to get in contact, despite the fact that the process is believed to be legal in Britain.

Snowflakes, a Los Angeles-based firm, has produced 32 children with the service in America. The company screens both sets of parents in the same way as a traditional adoption process.

The donor parents are able to specify what kind of home they want their embryo to go to and can veto parents they think unsuitable.

Snowflake charges $4,000 (£2,404) for the service, on top of which parents-have to pay for a report on their homes and clinic fees for implantation.

Pro-life groups have hailed the move, calling it a "heroic act" and claiming it is saving the lives of embryos that would otherwise be discarded.

JoAnn Eiman, of Snowflakes, said it had started the programme after hearing that in Britain embryos are thrown away after five years unless the parents ask for an extension to 10 years.

In an interview tonight with Channel 4 News, Ms Eiman reveals plans to launch the service worldwide.

Dr Alastair Sutcliffe, an IVF expert at University College London's Royal Free Hospital, said: "Medically, this is an incredibly straightforward procedure. There is no guarantee the procedure will result in a child."