Mass-producing eggs and sperm in a laboratory in order to have children with yourself or three other people in a "multiple" parenting arrangement sounds like the plot of a dystopian novel.

But the alarming circumstances are being considered by Britain's fertility watchdog, which has concluded the technology may be on the verge of viability.

Scientists, backed by Silicon Valley investment, are making progress so rapidly that lab-grown human eggs and sperm could become a reality within a decade, a meeting of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority's board of directors told a meeting last week.

In vitro gametes (IVG), eggs or sperm produced in the laboratory from genetically reprogrammed skin or stem cells, are considered the Holy Grail of fertility research.

The technology promises to remove age barriers to conception and could pave the way for same-sex couples to have biological children. It also poses unprecedented medical and moral risks, which the HFEA now believes need to be considered in proposed reforms to maternity law.

Peter Thompson, chief executive of the HFEA, said: "In vitro gametes have the potential to significantly increase the availability of human sperm and eggs for research and, if proven to be safe, effective and publicly acceptable, could provide new Fertility Treatment Options for Men with Low Sperm Counts and Women with Low Ovarian Reserve."

The technology also heralds more radical possibilities, including "solo parenting" and "poly parenting." "It feels like we should have Steven Spielberg on this committee," HFEA president Julia Chain said during a brief moment of levity discussing how to regulate technology.

Lab-grown eggs have been used to create healthy babies in mice - including those with two biological fathers. An equivalent feat has yet to be achieved using human cells, but US startups such as Conception and Gameto claim to be close to the prize.

The HFEA meeting noted that estimates ranged from two to three years (considered optimistic) to ten years, with several clinicians present agreeing that IVG seemed destined to become "a routine part of clinical practice."

Current laws would prohibit the clinical use of IVG, and there would be significant obstacles to proving IVG's safety, given that any unintended genetic changes in cells would be passed on to future generations.

The technology also raises numerous ethical questions.

Solo parenting – not to be confused with social single parenting – will involve the creation of eggs and sperm from the same person. This creates huge vulnerability to recessive genetic diseases, which are caused by faulty genes that most people carry but are usually unaffected because each gene carries two copies: a maternal copy and A copy of the parent.

But babies born to only one parent are more likely to lack a safe backup copy of the defective gene. Frances Flinter, emeritus professor of clinical genetics at King's College London and a member of the HFEA, told the meeting: "In a way, this is the extreme form of incest. That's why it's so dangerous and why it's not People think it’s a safe thing.”

Members agreed that the practice of raising children alone needs to be banned.

In contrast, there may be situations where polyparenting is permitted, which does not pose the same biological risks, and to the extent that there is social precedent in the form of blended families or relationships with non-anonymous donors. In polyparenting, two couples produce two embryos whose cells are used to produce eggs and sperm in the laboratory to create the final embryos.

Rebecca Taylor, science policy manager at the HFEA, said: "In the final embryo, these four parents are actually genetically the grandparents of the child. The parents will be the embryos, if that makes sense."

Other potential ethical issues include the ability to create large numbers of embryos in the lab, which could make more widespread screening possible.

The HFEA said that in areas where screening is less regulated than in the UK, which only allows testing for severe disease-causing mutations, this could become a form of eugenics, allowing selection for desirable traits.

Reduced age barriers may also create new challenges, such as higher risks for pregnancies in older mothers and children born to older parents.

Thompson said: “Research on IVGs is progressing rapidly, but it is unclear when they might become a viable treatment option. IVGs raise important questions, which is why the HFEA recommends that they should be subject to statutory regulation in time and should never be allowed to be used in treatments Use biohazardous IVG.

“This is the latest in a series of detailed recommendations on scientific developments which we are looking at to ensure the HFE Bill is future-proofed, but any decisions on modernizing UK maternity law lie with Parliament.”