The world’s first ‘baby lottery’ launches this month, offering couples the chance to win £25,000 of IVF treatment.

Tickets for the IVF lottery will cost £20 from charity To Hatch, which has been granted a license for the controversial game by The Gambling Commission.

The baby lottery begins on July 30 and a winner will be chosen every month.

Single, gay and elderly players will be able to but a ticket and be in with a chance of winning a baby.

To Hatch promises that if standard IVF fails, winners can be offered donor eggs, reproductive treatment or even a surrogate birth.

If a single man or woman wins, they will be provided with donor sperm, a donor embryo or a surrogate mother.

Not everyone is happy about the baby lottery.

Josephine Quintavalle from Comment on Reproductive Ethics told Sky News Online: “Turning the process of reproduction into a buy-your-ticket lottery, is absolutely unacceptable and quite possibly breaks European Law on the commercialisation of human tissue.

"By all accounts, this lottery offers not just a chance to have IVF treatment but also promises access to surrogate wombs, spare embryos, egg and sperm donors.

"It is in this area where an immediate investigation should be demanded. It is surely not legal to pay £20 to have access to another woman's womb?”

However, To Hatch claims the lottery will reduce the stress of people who are desperate to conceive.

Around one couple in seven suffers from fertility problems, and 1 per cent of babies born every year in Britain were conceived via IVF.

“We will offer struggling couples a completely tailor made service,” said To Hatch founder Camille Strachan.

“We hope the To Hatch Lottery can ease the burden on the NHS and reduce the stress slightly on some of those who are struggling.”

Public reaction on Twitter appear to be mostly disapproving.

“Just read about this baby IVF 'lottery'. Makes me sick to my stomach. What is wrong with this world?” wrote jessica_redman.

Fizza09 tweeted: “Surely this is not ethical?”

While deafpower says: “OMG. What kind of world do we live in?!”

What do you think? Is there any real reason why people shouldn’t win the chance to have IVF treatment if they couldn’t otherwise afford it?