Egg donation: something for everyone to hate
Yesterday’s New York Times discusses growing unease over how potential egg donors are solicited. There is really an ethical dilemma for everyone here.
For those who believe in informed consent:
But a study in the most recent issue of The Hastings Center Report, a leading bioethics journal, found that the compensation being touted in ads aimed at young women often exceeded industry guidelines. The study is the latest development in a long-running debate over how much – or even whether – egg donors should be paid.
[. . .]
“The concern is that some young women may choose to donate against their own best interests,” Dr. Levine said. “They’ll look at the money on offer and will overlook some of the risks.”
On the other hand, the gender egalitarians don’t appreciate too cautious an approach:
Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the reproductive medicine society, said that the group had little authority over egg brokers and that concerns expressed about donation smacked of sex discrimination. “It’s interesting to me that people get upset about egg donation in ways they don’t get upset about sperm donation,” he said. “You never hear discussions about, ‘Oh, the sperm donor is going to regret it some day that they have a child.’ “
Even abortion opponents are getting into the act:
Despite the growth of egg donation as a fertility treatment, it is largely the use of human ova to create embryos for stem cell research that has galvanized opposition among conservative and anti-abortion campaigners – leading to efforts to impose severe restrictions in some states.
-Sam
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