Egg Donation = Prostitution? Are You Kidding Me?
Wow, I love when people give me something to talk about. And, this story is certainly one of them. I understand and acknowlegde arguments made by some against egg donation because of exploitation and medical risks, but this is truly a new one.
At a conference in the UK, Dr. Naomi Pfeffer, who researches controversial developments in medicine, told the Motherhood in the 21st Century Conference at the University College London that “The exchange relationship is analogous to that of a client and a prostitute. It’s a unique situation because it’s the only instance in which a woman exploits another woman’s body.”
Honestly, I do believe that her intentions were good as she was merely warning that increasing numbers of “vulnerable women in developed countries” were being exploited by Westerners who were desperate to conceive. I do understand issue as stated above, and I do think that something needs to be done on that front; however, charges of prostitution by the women desperately wanting a child??? I guess it got people to listen.
She continued by stating that “Most of these women are in developing economies where access to healthcare is limited by their ability to pay. They are often vulnerable women and it’s a very unequal economic relationship.
“These women are being encouraged to take real risks with their health through ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval. It commodifies women’s bodies and treats their reproductive capacities as a service.”
Unfortunately, Pfeffer also stated that British parents should face up to the consequences of their actions. “They should know that they are using vulnerable women. These women who are buying eggs have to appreciate that the eggs don’t appear from a stork or from under a gooseberry bush.” However, we cannot forget that many British doctors refer patients abroad if they do not want to join the NHS's three-year waiting list for donor eggs. That is clearly a long time for any woman.
The likely answer in all of this is not to punish the women who desperately want a child, as they too are vulnerable. Instead, changes within the British government, as well as these other countries such as Spain, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine, need to take place to ensure that everyone is protected.
Again, just my two cents.
Women should see the ability to donate eggs as liberating. Men have always had the ability to 'spread their seed', often leaving a woman to take on the total cost of raising a child. As science writer Matt Ridley put it, "It is a fair bet that Casanova left more descendents than the Whore of Babylon." From a reproductive standpoint, an avid egg donor is the penultimate reprodutive success. Mens' sexual desire is derived from our urge to procreate. Women are limited in this desire in that bearing a great number of children limits the viability of their existing offspring. Egg donation allows a woman to circumvent this.