To obtain a steady supply of unfertilized human eggs for medical research, New York’s Empire State Stem Cell Board recently authorized paying women to donate their eggs. The decision has set off a new round of discussion about whether paying for eggs is ethical. The board agreed that women can receive up to $10,000 for donating eggs, a painful and sometimes risky process…. Proponents say compensating women for their eggs is necessary for research, and point out that women who give their eggs for fertility purposes are already paid. Others worry that the practice will commodify the human body and lead to the exploitation of women in financial need [The New York Times].
At the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research this week, British researcher Alison Murdoch described a less controversial “egg sharing” program that has met with success. Women struggling to conceive can obtain IVF at a discounted rate, in exchange for donating some of their eggs for research…. In 2008, Murdoch’s team had 191 enquiries from interested women and ended up obtaining 199 eggs from 32 couples. “We are getting donors and we are getting eggs,” says Murdoch. The team is using the eggs in experiments into “therapeutic cloning”, which could ultimately produce stem cells matched to individual patients [New Scientist].
“Therapeutic cloning” relies on a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer. In the process, the DNA from an adult cell, such as a skin cell, is inserted into a human egg that has had its DNA removed. The fertilized egg then begins to develop similarly to a regular embryo, and scientists can harvest stem cells several days later. The resulting cells are genetically matched to the adult tissue donor, and could therefore be used for cell transplants without the risk of immune rejection [Technology Review]. Stem cells can develop into any type of tissue in the body, and are thought to hold great potential for treating diseases.
Some researchers suggest that recent advances in reprogramming adult cells to behave like stem cells may eliminate the need for cloning, and thus for egg donation. But others disagree. “There are many questions you can only answer by studying human eggs,” said Dr. George Q. Daley, a stem cell researcher [The New York Times]. For example, researchers want to compare stem cells created through therapeutic cloning to those created by reprogramming adult cells to understand why the reprogrammed cells behave somewhat differently.
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Image: iStockphoto
July 13th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Men get paid for sperm (though a marginal amount comparatively), I don’t get the ethical difference.
I think the “ethical” issue here is more with regard to the same argument over stem cell research in general. Nothing new ethically here.
July 13th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
It’s a painful and risky procedure, one that potentially can render a woman infertile.
Men, on the other hand, donate sperm to the tissue just about every day.
July 13th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I suppose if you feel it’s unethical, you could just not donate your eggs.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:08 am
The donor compensation to women for donating their eggs was calculated based on the fees provided to men for donating sperm and increased according to the far more significant time that egg donation requires. Egg donors must go to multiple appointments for monitoring and bloodwork and must be diligent about their medication. While egg donation does NOT have a history of danger to a womans health or fertility it does require a great deal of time and attention on her part. Egg donors are educated, responsible young women who generously give of themselves and are compensated for their time and trouble. I cannot imagine anything more ethical than the efforts that egg donors go through to ensure a successful cycle. Additionally, responsible (ethical) egg donation agencies and clinics work hard to make sure that donors do not receive excessive funds and that their number of donations stays within the standards of the ASRM. The ethical debate focused on egg donation has far more to do with controlling the ability of women to make decisions for themselves than it does about the exchange of genetic material.
July 14th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I wholeheartedly agree with what Ellie Klein has to say above. Donors are paid for their time and effort, whether to help someone have a family or for research that may one day help saves thousands of lives. And, again, as stated above, don’t donate if you are not comfortable with it. No one is forcing anyone to donate, despite the claims of duress due to the financial incentive.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:26 am
It does seem women should be given this option to earn money. Do ethics, morality and laws always have to deny women the right to make their own choices regarding their bodies and payment for its services? I can’t imagine denying women the right to value their reproductive systems, and value in capitalism comes with a price tag. Are moralists really thinking women need guarding or protecting from selling physical services? Isn’t it more immoral to treat women as incapable of reflective, insightful decision-making based on their own understandings and needs? Isn’t it more immoral to deny them access to money? Sometimes this system seems soooo upside down to me.
July 15th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Sarah, the ethical issue being debated is whether women who would otherwise not donate would be coerced into donation due to financial need — not the act of donation itself.
But I personally fail to see why this is a big ethical dilemma. The potential for abuse is exceedingly minor, as are the potential risks. To consider this particular issue to be one of concern when we are already paying people to participate in drug trials is to suggest that women aren’t capable of deciding for themselves.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:53 am
The problem starts when there are women who are forced to an egg donation. Nevertheless, I am completely in favour of egg donation. Maybe women who donate should be rewarded in another way….??
July 24th, 2009 at 3:49 am
Ellie Klein of the Beverly Hills Egg Donation says “While egg donation does NOT have a history of danger to a womans health or fertility it does require a great deal of time and attention on her part.” I believe that she is mistaken. I have been reading a lot of reports on the internet and published in the AMA Journal. Here is a part of the report that I found in the US NEWS.
“For about a month, the donor actually turns her body over to the process. She must inject herself daily with hormones that stimulate her ovaries to produce up to several dozen ripened eggs rather than the usual one. These mature eggs are sucked out of her swollen ovaries with needles inserted through the vaginal wall. That is not especially pleasant. But the major risks relate to the heavy-duty drug treatments. In about 1 in every 100 women a “hyperstimulation” condition balloons the ovaries to the size of grapefruits and the belly fills with fluid, requiring hospitalization. There is a real but rare danger that an ovary will rupture or be irreversibly damaged, or even that a heart attack or stroke will occur. Brokers that solicit donors don’t have to talk about this.”
As quoted by US NEWS at: http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/030113/13donor.b.htm
Out of this report, my favorite part was; “Brokers that solicit donors don’t have to talk about this.” So maybe Ellie is unaware of the harm that she may be doing to these young women seeing dollar signs. If you told me that I could have irreversible problems, a chance of infertility, and any of the other problems mentioned above, I would not donate.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
First baby conceived from screened egg is born!
http://egg-donation.blog.co.uk/2009/09/22/first-baby-conceived-from-screened-egg-is-born-7015253/
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
A 61-year-old woman gave birth to her own grandchild using an egg donated by her daughter, a clinic in Japan has said.
The surrogate mother is believed to be oldest woman to have given birth in Japan. http://infertilityuk.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/egg-donation/