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I Donated My Eggs: Jezebel [http://jezebel.com/5954188/i-donated-my-eggs-for-4500]

Posted On October 28th, 2012

A mixed reaction to this overall positive piece on egg donation.

People object to the word “donor,” because there is compensation involved.

However, an egg donor is being paid for her time and effort, not her eggs. The donor would have been paid the same no matter how many eggs were retrieved (compensation is not based on results).

Organ selling is not legal, but the analogy of a donated kidney does not apply to egg donation. You only have two kidneys. A donor has many eggs, and those retrieved for donation would have been released and discarded by her body in a normal cycle (she is not depleting her ovarian reserve). In this aspect, it is more like plasma donation.

 

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Many egg-donor recruiters ignore ethical standards

Posted On August 10th, 2012

According to a survey published in Fertility and Sterility, about a third of about 100 donor recruitment organizations studied do not adhere to the ASRM’s ethical guidelines. These guidelines include the minimum age of 21 for egg donors, the cap on donor compensation of 10K, and a compensation rate not based on donor characteristics or previous donation results.

This last requirement is the least understood by both donors and recipients. Some recipients question our uniform 10k compensation, commenting that 10k is a big sum for an “unproven egg donor.” But they do not realize that the donation process is the same for a first timer as it is for a third timer, and the donor is being paid for her time and effort, not for her eggs. As long as the retrieval occurs, the donor gets paid her full compensation, whether 7 or 37 eggs are retrieved (whether the eggs get fertilized, grow into healthy embryos, and result in a pregnancy and live birth is another story).The donor does not get paid any part of her compensation (in our program) if the retrieval does not occur, so this lessens the financial risk.

As far as setting individual compensation according to SAT scores, prestigious educations, looks, etc.: rating women according to these measures is, to put it plainly, just gross. That is another justification for our uniform compensation policy.

Although the ASRM guidelines may seem arbitrary in some respects and could use updating (especially the 10K cap),

 

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So Eager for Grandchildren, They’re Paying the Egg-Freezing Clinic

Posted On May 14th, 2012

Some observations on The New York Times article today: Firstly, IVF is so expensive that even mature adults with established careers need their parents to pay for it. Secondly, most eggs retrieved and frozen are not viable, that is, they will not become healthy embryos that result in live births. A typical result of a cycle with an egg donor in her 20s would be something like 12 retrieved, 10 mature, 7 fertilized, 2 transferred, 2 frozen, and with luck, a positive pregnancy that goes to term. If you retrieve 12 eggs and freeze them, not all will survive the thaw and fertilize. If a woman wants to preserve her fertility, she should do it in her 20s, but the need does not present itself until a woman is in her 30s.

 

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