IN 1990, PARLIAMENT PASSED A LAW saying that egg and sperm donors can only get paid a small amount for their expenses - at most about $25. The ban is enforced by the government's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), a regulatory board based in London. Chief Executive Suzanne McCarthy says it's morally dubious to pay someone else for their genetic material.

"Human life is something that is special throughout all of its creation and gestation," McCarthy said. "Children who would later find that they were essentially bought, would find this very difficult."

According to HFEA research, egg donors typically say they chose to give their eggs for altruistic reasons, not for money, especially because the procedure involves months of injections and a surgical egg retrieval. Sperm donors were found to be far more mercenary - but the process for guys is, obviously, easier. HFEA officials contend that paying for eggs would not necessarily increase the supply.

One California entrepreneur sees the British ban as a business opportunity. And his style demonstrates the vast differences between America's free-market approach to medicine, and nationalized health care in the UK. Los Angeles lawyer - and AM radio talk show host - Bill Handel owns Egg Donation Incorporated (EDI) in Beverly Hills, one of America's largest commercial egg donor companies.

In May, Handel made a media tour of England to promote his business. On an Oprah-style TV show in Nottingham, he was introduced as a man "selling babies to childless British couples."

"Selling babies? Oh, please," Handel replied in exasperation. "Infertile people have the right to have children and to the use of technology."

Handel promised more than the technology can deliver. He claimed a success rate of 80 percent. But, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the live birth rate using frozen donor embryos is 15 percent (25 percent with a fresh donor embryo). Still, Handel contends that the gamble is better than not trying at all. He said a shipment of American-made embryos would cost the British couple about $25,000. Ten percent of the money would go to the American egg donor. The price tag for British recipients is four times the cost to American couples cited on the EDI web site.