Eggs...to donate or to not donate?

Payment of thousands of dollars for egg donation has been a major controversy that has risen due to different viewpoints about what is and what is not ethical. On one hand Nature’s “The Ethics of Egg Manipulation”* is pro egg donation and is rooting for more states to follow New York’s steps and allow women to donate their eggs. On the other hand, Fr. Thomas Berg, who wrote “Scrambled Ethics”*, is not on the same page with Nature and feels that the whole donating eggs is too dangerous to be done.

“The Ethics of Egg Manipulation” argues that by allowing more states to do reproductive research concerning egg donation, newer and safer methods to give couples the power to have children of their own will arise. In vitro babies have a higher risk of being unhealthy, but new studies done on monkeys have shown that by using two eggs and manipulating the nuclear DNA, no mutations will be present in the embryo. The only problem with this is that the studies have only been done on monkeys, not humans. For this reason the editorial is urging other states to allow women to donate their eggs so that researchers can be sure that this method will work successfully on humans and couples will be able to have healthy babies.

Father Tomas Berg, executive director of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Persona, argues against egg donation due to the very serious health risks it entails, such as Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. The OHSS condition has a wide range of problems, from simple things such as bloating to more severe problems like organ failure and even death. Berg is against egg donations not only because of the health risks, but also because the amount of money given to women is an incentive to do something they otherwise would not. These researchers would target low income women, who are generally willing to undergo any risk in order to sustain their families by receiving high monetary rewards averaging $10,000.

Even though Father Berg’s argument has statistics that show the negative effects and risks of egg donation, it seems like overall the concept would be very rewarding. Just imagine how many couples would be elated to finally be able to have healthy babies. If human egg donation is not done, then no one will ever know if the successful results from the monkey experiments are the same with humans. Progress will be stagnant unless more states learn from the actions of New York and make egg donation possible.

*Nature 460, 1057 (27 August 2009) | doi:10.1038/4601057a; Published online 26 August 2009

*Berg, Father Thomas. "Scrambled Ethics." National Review 02 June 2009. Print.