Now That Everyone Is Donating Their Eggs…Should I? I was reading up on fertility clinics and happened to stumble across an advertisement for embryo donation, I had never really put in much thought into it but this time the $10,000 banner that adorned the advertisement caught my attention. I was healthy and fit all the requirements that the couple was looking for and within no time I found myself contemplating all the things I could do with that money. I could really use this money, so I spoke to my parents about it and they said it was up to me, but later that day my mom asked if I could live with that...I did not understand the question at first, then it later dawned on me…could I live knowing that there was a child out there in this world that was mine and that I had willingly given up to settle a couple of bills. I was suddenly taken aback and forced to reconsider. Many women today are unable to use their own eggs to conceive but thanks to the generosity of egg donors they are able to experience motherhood and all the benefits that come with having a family. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to offer larger amounts for egg donation tend to be the front runners of the whole process, with more willing applicants responding to their advertisement which makes it important to consider whether donors are motivated by genuine compassion with money as a fringe benefit or the need to make a few extra bucks is the most important consideration. Jessica Cohen’s article “Grade A: The Market For a Yale Woman’s Eggs” gives us insight into her experience as a possible egg donor, she talks about the strenuous procedure, possible risks, and rigorous application process and in the end we come to find that despite her good intentions she is dismissed as a possible donor for simply not being attractive enough. Cohen’s article opened me up to the real implications of egg donation and in my opinion buying eggs is the more unethical transaction in comparison to selling eggs, as it puts a price on one’s life, brings about issues of justice, puts life at risk, and the procedure itself results in the disposal of frozen embryos.
It is not uncommon that a family would not want to have the smartest or most attractive child, but when a couple goes as far as wanting to play a hand in picking their child’s eye color, weight, hobbies and even their SAT score, one begins to consider whether through donating their egg to such a couple, they are partaking in bringing in a child into this world that would be encumbered with far too many expectations. Cohen for example responded to an advertisement that was looking for “a young woman over five feet five, of Jewish heritage, athletic, with a minimum combined SAT score of 1500, and attractive” (190). Although I would say it is ok to decide what race you would want your child to be, I strongly feel that when it comes to egg donation the couples concern should only go as far as ensuring that they have a healthy child, possibly of the same race, unless race would not be an issue to them. It becomes clear through the article that choosing an egg donor can quickly become as precise as shopping for a new appliance on an online website, Cohen states that “potential parents can search for a variety of features, narrowing the pool as much as they like”(193). When we make such purchases we have a set of expectations that we expect this appliance to fulfill, and just in the same way, it is not outrageous to think that a child born through such a grueling process is not going to be expected to fulfill a certain set of expectations. Many children suffer from anxiety and stress as they are unable to fulfill the plans that their parents had intended for them, some even go as far as committing suicide. Now these are drastic assumptions to make; however, is it okay to have access to being able to play a hand in what or who your child is going to become as long as you have the money to pay for the “perfect” egg? On