Sue Zeidler, Los Angeles: More and more people have literally found life on the Internet as the estimated $ 3billion fertility industry moves increasingly online. But as with all online commercial ventures, shopping on the Web can carry risks.

In this case, the Internet may provide consumers, often people desperate to have a child a faster and more discreet way to find egg or sperm donors. But it can also lead to lost money and broken dreams, say fertility experts. "It's not surprising that much of this business is migrating into Cyberspace. Most people don't mind buying a Lands' End item at the store, but it's awkward to buy eggs in public," said Professor Debora Spar of Harvard Business School, an advocate for regulation of the U.S. fertility industry.

While procuring an egg online still involves more than simply clicking on a shopping cart, says Spar, many people do not realize all the steps and attention required to adequately match, screen and coordinate recipients with donors. Other experts say hopeful recipients may be asked by less reputable egg donor sites to pay large, nonrefundable sums upfront to see profiles, or be made to wait for months for donors that never materialize.

The cost of a donated egg has soared from about $2,500 a few years ago to as much as $35,000 in some cases as lack of regulatory oversight has enabled a new breed of marketers called "egg hunters" to act as Internet brokers between recipients and donors, said Dr. Drew Moffitt, co-medical director of the Arizona Reproductive Medicine Specialists, an infertility practice. Indeed, a random Google search of the phrase "egg donor" called up nearly 1.2 million links.

Some proclaimed things like "Hot&Smart Egg Donors," while others bore ads aimed at students by offering sums like $7,000 for eggs to pay for books, college and "elective" surgery. "The introduction of the egg hunters has been one of the things that has led to the escalation of fees. The real loser in this whole game winds up being the recipient," said Moffitt.

Experts say women should also be wary of big payoffs that often blind them to the realities and risks of being a donor, which can be a time-consuming and invasive process. Some may also later regret that another woman is raising children they helped to create, they said. "I am shocked because every time I go online, there are another five egg donor agencies, promising things like lots of instant money and even plastic surgery in exchange for eggs," said Shelley Smith, director of Los Angeles-based The Egg Donor Program, established in 1992.