Egg Donor - New Family Opportuinities

INTRODUCTION:

There are some in our society who believe that there is an age limit on motherhood. I believe that the opportunity to have a younger woman's eggs donated, even for a fee, makes it possible for older women to have children and to cherish them and continue to make their lives, regardless of age, meaningful.

There are some people who debate the ethics of egg donations. There are some who believe that "selling eggs" is immoral and against God's wishes. Let us examine the pro's and con's of egg donations.

THE PROCESS:

A woman willing to donate eggs is taught "how to inject hormone stimulants into her hip to produce more eggs in her ovaries" (Lauang 2000 12) Then, as Lauang explains (p 12) the eggs are retrieved from donors, mixed with the sperm of the recipient's partner and then implanted into the recipient's cervix. The retrieval is a surgical procedure. But it is considered safe. Most programs now pay egg donors $4,000. This is not for the eggs, but for the inconvenience of the surgery and time. If the donors decide not to risk surgery, they still receive $500. Donors have to want to give their eggs. For this reason, explains Lauan, "All donors have to see psychologists before they donate eggs" (p. 13). According to Family Line, which has helped more than 300 couples for eight years, "about 55 percent of their egg recipients have babies". (p. 13) Egg donors are permitted to donate their eggs up to four times in a lifetime.

PRO:

Many religions tell us that humans were put on earth to procreate. That is, to have children to keep Mankind alive. To those who believe that there should be an age limit for a woman to bear children, there is no evidence that older parents are unfit. Linda Wolfe's example, of her 62-year old brother wanting his childless thirty-something wife to have a baby is inspiring. She also explains that "If a child is going to have an older parent, an older mother is a better bet than an older father…The average age of women seeking babies through the new technology is 51. The average age of people entering nursing homes is 85." (Wolfe 1994 A 15).