A breast cancer wonder drug is being used in IVF to boost success rates for older women.

Tamoxifen is normally given to patients who have undergone surgery for breast cancer to prevent tumours growing back.

But a British clinic is pioneering its use in fertility treatment to help women over 40 who have a limited number of eggs.

Normally older women with a low ovarian reserve have to use donor eggs from someone else, meaning they aren't biologically related to the baby. But early trials have shown that if these women were given Tamoxifen, approximately one in five were able to have a baby using their own eggs.

The technique is being tried by Professor Geeta Nargund, medical director of Create Fertility, which has branches across the UK.

Professor Nargund carried out a study at a London clinic earlier this year on 31 women with low ovarian reserve whose average age was 40,

They were given daily Tamoxifen pills for between five and ten days. The women underwent 54 cycles of IVF between them using fresh and frozen eggs. The results – first presented at the British Fertility Conference in Edinburgh in January - showed six out of these 31 women went on to have babies, an average rate of one in five.

Professor Nargund says her clinic has since used Tamoxifen in 100 cycles and the success rate has matched that of the trial.Tamoxifen costs just 6p a day and researchers believe it works for fertility treatment by lowering oestrogen levels.