Money, morals and medical risks: conflicting notions underlying the recruitment of egg donors

Extract

We suggest that the policy recommended for adoption by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) on altruistic donation is flawed. Many of the considerations involved are complex matters and wrong decisions could precipitate harmful effects that could have significant repercussions, not the least of which is litigious.

In a recent consultation paper, the HFEA (1998a), the government appointed panel which regulates the practice of assisted reproduction in the UK, concludes that: (i) gamete donations should be a gift, freely and voluntarily given after informed consent and that direct payments should be phased out; and (ii) that an arrangement involving benefits in kind, such as an egg sharing scheme in which a couple receive treatment at a reduced charge in exchange for donating surplus eggs should also be phased out. Accordingly, if the conclusions of this consultation paper are accepted, egg donation in the UK will in future depend wholly upon altruistic, non-patient, volunteer donors.