"Trading on the female body: exploitation of women for eggs"

Google Tech Talks
July 14, 2008

ABSTRACT

One quick Google search on "egg donation" will demonstrate how prevalent the ads are to "make dreams come true" or "help create a miracle".

Women on Ivy League campuses across America and poor women from around the world are being heavily recruited to "donate" their eggs to fertility clinics and now for cloning research.

Sadly, egg donation has less to do with altruism and more to do with the exploitation of women--particularly young women and often poor women who are usually facing large debts or just trying to make ends meet. Egg donation puts women's health and safety at risk. Newer trends in fertility medicine are moving away from current practices which are harmful to infertile women but neglect the nameless, faceless egg donor women.

People of all political and religious stripes have organized all around the world to call attention to the risks of egg donation practices.

For more information visit:

www.cbc-network.org
OR
www.handsoffourovaries.com

Speaker: Jennifer Lahl
Jennifer Lahl, Founder and National Director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture and Founding Director with HandsOffOurOvaries, an international campaign raising awareness of the dangers of egg harvesting will speak on the ethics of egg donation.

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[squashflowers]

i think egg donation is a generous thing that one woman can do for another woman. nobody is forced to give away their eggs. its not like a chicken farm! the risks are well known.

[squashflowers]

when I donated my eggs to an infertile couple, an extensive medical history and genetic history was taken and put on record for the future children and parents. Once the donated eggs grow up they can look me up by donor number and find out all my information.

i still stand by my choice to donate to an infertile woman as a choice of altruism. i love children and i think it must be horrible to want to conceive but not be able. I was not poor. I made 4X my rent every month when i donated.

[squashflowers]

@jacquefromtexas i was in no way poor when i donated. i made more than 4X my expenses when i made the decision. the screening process included questions to find out if the woman was being forced to donate for the money as well. the children have an extensive medical screening, and the donor database keeps record for when the child grows up they can search their biological parents.

[jacquefromtexas]

@squashflowers It's not generous- It's exploitation of poor women by rich women. And children who never know who their parents and medical history suffer, too.

[coorsbabesrule]

@nomorefunds no, but i have relatives who have. It was the happiest day of their lives.

[nomorefunds]

There is far more danger and exploitation when it comes to organ donation, but nobody talks about outlawing organ donation. Donating eggs is a length process that requires the donor to take stimulation drugs correctly, monitor her cycle and do things carefully. The process cannot be forced on someone, because it would not work. The female egg donors are being crybabies if they complain later on that they were coerced. It is simply a lie.

[nomorefunds]

@coorsbabesrule Have you adopted any children?

[coorsbabesrule]

@nomorefunds My solution, while not perfect, is the best thing we can do right now, belive you me, I wish that the government could decide to not allow some people to have children.

[coorsbabesrule]

@nomorefunds I see the point of what you're saying, but the adoption thing makes more sense given what we have now. If we could in some way, as a society, decide who should be allowed to have kids, and how many, I would be all for that. The problem though is this requires the governmnet to get involved in an extremely personal decision

[nomorefunds]

@nomorefunds Its unfair to have a child, then expect someone else to adopt it. Take care of your own.