A married couple in Oxfordshire who don't want children have donated 84 eggs and sperm to 16 families to "help others struggling to get pregnant".

Paramedics Nay, 33, and Luke, 37, Chadbourne, from Banbury changed their mind on wanting children partially due to their "intensive jobs" and as their friends and family had children.

They couple signed up with a private fertility clinic in April 2022 after seeing friends struggle to conceive and have miscarriages.

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Ms Chadbourne said: "When you get married, the next question is always 'when are you having children'.

"We still get that a lot, and we have been married four years.

"I don't want people to think I don't want them because I hate children.

"We just really don't want our own.

"We work as paramedics, we're very busy and we are part of a non-profit organisation that responds to natural disasters so can be asked to up and leave the country with short notice - we have very busy lives."

She added that their main motivation was seeing friends go through the IVF process and have multiple miscarriages which was "heartbreaking".

Mr Chadbourne said: "No one should have to justify their decisions to people.

"Fertility and choosing to have a family is a very personal matter and where we are open to talking about being donors.

Oxford Mail: Ms Chabourne has donated 84 eggs.Ms Chabourne has donated 84 eggs. (Image: Contribution)

"It can be difficult for other people who are struggling."

The pair met in 2016 when they were getting a hepatitis B vaccine for work and moved in together eight months later.

Ms Chadbourne said she first started thinking about egg donation when she was 27 which was around the same time she decided she didn't want children.

She said: "Once I was signed off it was really straightforward.

"I injected myself for 14 days.

"You are constantly having scans the whole way through, which is great.

"The first time I did it, I grew 39 eggs."

She recounted how her family "weren't thrilled" when she told them she was going to donate her eggs, adding: "I think it is more because they have nieces and nephews, we are all on ancestry websites and we know that if one of my donor children went on to that they would link.

"It's difficult to imagine having a biological link to someone you have no contact with."

Sperm and egg donation is not universally accepted across cultures with some countries placing restrictions on the practice and many more outside Europe banning it altogether.

Ms Chadbourne said she is not sure whether she will donate again, adding: "The only exception would be if I had one of my friends who needed eggs and wanted to use mine."