Cost of donating eggs outweighs benefits

Nov. 6, when three federal courts blocked the ban on
“partial-birth” abortions, the problems associated with
tampering with human life in its earliest stage became the order of
the day.

The injunction, protecting a woman’s “right to
choose,” has further fueled the abortion rights debate
““ a debate which places ownership of a woman’s
fertility at the center of a volatile ethical, religious and legal
struggle. However, one unfortunate side effect of the focused
attention on abortion is that it limits the ethical discussion of
fertility to an after-the-fact debate. But a woman’s
responsibility for the life she may bring forth should begin even
earlier than actual conception.

Flicking through the Daily Bruin between classes, one item
constantly disturbs me. Every day, nestled in the classified
section is a highlighted advertisement declaring, “Pay your
tuition with eggs.” Not a day passes when the classified
section does not boast at least four of these advertisements. Their
presence articulates the huge marketplace for the commodity of UCLA
students’ eggs. Yet, despite the ubiquity of egg donor
advertisements, the question of donating and selling eggs remains
contentious. It oscillates somewhere between pure altruism and
desperate financial need. It poses ethical, religious and legal
questions that are not easily resolved.

The adverts, unashamedly aimed at hard-up UCLA students, offer a
huge payment for eggs, carefully labeled
“compensation.” The lure of the $5,000-$10,000 offered
to the “right” students belies the emotional, moral and
legal dilemmas that students considering egg donation face.
Although, as the adverts suggest, donating eggs may seem a
quick-fix solution to financial strife, the reality is far
different.

Aside from the legal problems involved ““ primarily that
both a genetic, biological mother and a carrying mother are
involved, therefore raising the question of whether children have a
right to obtain knowledge of their genetic background ““ other
issues linked to anonymous donations become problematic. In an
unlikely but possible circumstance, incest could occur. A child
born from an egg donation could inadvertently end up in a
relationship with a half-sibling or another close relative. And
considering the growing number of egg donations in the United
States, this Jerry Springer scenario does not seem too
far-fetched.

A more worrying aspect of donating eggs anonymously is the fact
that the donor would never know where her undeveloped embryo had
been assigned. A little over two weeks ago, a New Jersey couple was
arrested on charges of starving four boys they had adopted through
the state Division of Youth and Family Services. The four boys,
ranging between the ages of 9 and 19, all weighed less than 50
pounds. The oldest, discovered rummaging through a neighbor’s
trash, measured 4 feet tall and weighed only 45 pounds. This
shocking example shows that despite the rigorous checks that
adoption and fertility clinics may undertake, those wishing to
exploit and abuse children may still slip through the net.

And although this may be a rare, worst-case scenario, the
possibility that a child could end up in an abusive family must be
a factor in the decision of whether to donate an egg. For a
year’s tuition you could be selling your child into a
lifetime of abuse.

Finally, although donating eggs may appear to be an act of
selflessness, generating huge happiness for a childless couple, the
levels of “compensation” involved point to a process
more in tune with the commercial exploitation of human embryos. As
the adverts for egg donors display more and more specific
requirements ““ 1300-plus SAT scores, athletic abilities,
specific ethnicities and races ““ and the remuneration
involved becomes larger, the concept of designer babies springs to
mind. Egg donation becomes more than the desire to start families.
It becomes a process of consumerism, of finding the perfect
embryonic commodity. And by turning a children into currency, are
we not undermining their intrinsic value?

Students who are considering earning “money easily and
anonymously by donating eggs to an infertile couple,” are
faced with a massive decision, the implications of which may for
most outweigh the short-term financial benefits. Ultimately, as in
the case of abortion or adoption, donating eggs is another integral
part of a woman’s “right to choose.” It signifies
autonomy over her own fertility. The danger lies in the fact that
women are not just donating, but selling their eggs ““ more
often than not to an unknown entity over whom they will have no
control.

Despite the unprecedented levels of tuition fees and endlessly
multiplying student debts, selling eggs, it seems, is not
necessarily a good way of paying your tuition.

De Sybel is a third-year history and English student. E-mail
her at [email protected].