Comments on: Is It Ethical to Pay Women to Donate Eggs for Medical Research?

By: A 61-year-old woman gave birth to her own grandchild using an egg donated by her daughter

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:20:07 +0000

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/

By: Twitter infertilityhelp

Twitter infertilityhelp — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:15:42 +0000

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/

By: Erica

Erica — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:49:35 +0000

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.

By: Pro egg donation

Pro egg donation — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:53:23 +0000

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….??

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:03:41 +0000

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.

By: prostitute

prostitute — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:26:11 +0000

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.

By: Theresa Erickson, Erickson Law

Theresa Erickson, Erickson Law — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:12:06 +0000

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.

By: Ellie Klein, Beverly Hills Egg Donation

Ellie Klein, Beverly Hills Egg Donation — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:08:31 +0000

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.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:51:00 +0000

I suppose if you feel it’s unethical, you could just not donate your eggs.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:54:03 +0000

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.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:06:15 +0000

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.