Mothers who use donor eggs "take longer to bond with their baby"

Scientists have found that women who use donor eggs to conceive may find it more difficult to bond with their baby.

The study found that mothers were less sensitive to their baby's smile and eye contact, while toddlers were less involved with their mothers by handing them toys.

The University of Cambridge team, which filmed 150 families playing with their babies aged 6 to 18 months, suggests that the lack of a genetic link is a factor.

But they found that the bond was built over time.

Co-author, Susan Imrie, said, "Some women still find their mark as egg-donor mothers and this can be difficult.

"A small number of people told us that not having a genetic connection with their child took a little time to understand."

The study found that women who used donor eggs were not as well structured as children and that their children responded less well.

But women's feelings towards their babies were the same.

Stuart Lavery, expert in fertility, from Imperial College London, said: "This is an important study."

Donor eggs were invented in the 1980s. In the UK, more than 1,400 babies were born from donor eggs in 2016, up from 438 in 1996.

"Do not click was a worry"

A mother who had her second child with donor eggs and a surrogate mother said she feared "struggling to bond".

Alice Jolly said that this was quickly overcome after the birth of her six-year-old daughter Hope.

The author, 51, said, "Of course, you worry about not having a biological connection with your child and not feeling right, not bonding you.

"But we had waited so long that the gift of eggs was no longer a problem for us after his arrival."

Alice, who lives in Stroud, Glos, with her husband Stephen Kinsella, her son Tomas, 16, and Hope, has planned to donate donor eggs after suffering four miscarriages.

She said, "But we would like it, no matter."

The more I watched, the more I thought, why not?