IVF & Surrogacy
USA – Three things people should know about egg donation
The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network feels that women who consider donating their eggs should know three things about the process before the process. Firstly, Egg Donation Often Involves Coercion because egg donation often involves poorer women providing eggs to wealthier couples. The egg donor—even when informed of known risks and potential unknown risks—is often willing to risk to her health because of financial need. Money plays a very coercive and powerful role in the market of human egg donation.
Secondly, egg donation carries health and psychological risks that often go untold because medical complications that are known, are rarely documented in the medical literature, as the individuals and organizations that are tasked with safety and oversight are also the ones who stand to profit from egg donation. The medical process required for egg retrieval is lengthy and there are known medical risks associated with each step. Risks include Ovarian Hyper Stimulation syndrome (OHSS) due to superovulation, loss of fertility, ovarian torsion, stroke, kidney disease, premature menopause, ovarian cysts, and in some rare cases, death. When an egg donor experiences harm to her health, she often feels guilty for “being so stupid” for making a decision that brought about this harm. She feels used by those she thought were professionals who cared for her. Lastly, egg donation is often eugenic because the largest sums of money are generally offered for donors of very specific educational, physical, or ethnic traits, not only perpetuating but actually incentivizing. More