An Ethical Perspective

1 Running head: EGG DONATION

Egg Donation:

Full Name

Name of Institution 2EGG DONATION

Abstract

When couples realize that they are infertile, they face several solutions. Some couples decide to remain childless. Others adopt children, attempt in-vitro fertilization, or look for donated eggs. While the act of donating one’s egg to help another woman have a child may be very moving, and the money that will be obtained for that donation can be very appealing and convenient, a woman considering donating her eggs should think through her decision very carefully. Despite its appeal, the essence of egg donation goes against the nature of both the parents and the babies, treats the baby as a commodity or other market product, exposes the donor to health risks, and can take on a coercive nature. As a result, donating eggs is an unethical practice in terms of nature, medicine and convenience. 3EGG DONATION

Is it ethical for a woman to undergo hormonal and surgical treatment to donate eggs to another infertile woman, for money? Is it ethical for an infertile couple to buy a baby? Is it ethical for the couple to pay for certain characteristics, such as intelligence, sportiness or good looks? Jessica Cohen decided that it is not. In 2002, while studying for her undergraduate degree at Yales, Jessica Cohen saw an advertisement offering $25,000 – significantly more than the average offer – for the ‘perfect’ egg donor, an athletic woman of Jewish heritage, over five feet tall, and with an SAT score of at least 1500 (Cohen, 2002). Jessica met most of the description – all but the 1500 SAT score – so she contacted the couple and began corresponding with them regarding her characteristics and the possibility of donating her eggs. The price was very attractive, and could have made her life easier for a while. Nevertheless, after reading some of the emails from the perspective father, and thinking carefully about her decision, Jessica decided against donating her eggs, largely due to the manner in which the couple was trying to tailor design their child (Cohen, 2002). Jessica’s decision was wise, based both on her own considerations, and on other ethical and medical principles.

Considerations

Although egg donations have become fairly common, and are considered one of the basic solutions to infertility, together with in-vitro fertilization and adoption, the process and market surrounding egg donations is overshadowed with serious ethical questions. One main concern, as pointed out by Jessica Cohen, lies in the concept of personally, tailor designed babies. Is it right to make a baby like all other market products? This puts a price on a human life, which is priceless. It also leads to further complications. Babies are born into the world facing heavy expectations. They will have less freedom in life, as their childhood will have been pre-tailored 4EGG DONATION by their parents to bring out certain talents, etc., not taking into account the individuality and interests of the child.

Having egg donations as part of the common market can also lead to greater discrimination, as more money is offered to women who have certain characteristics, such as sportiness, good looks, and above average intelligence (The Ethics of Egg Donation, 2009).

Doesn’t this make certain characteristics seem superior to others? Designing babies based on superior characteristics can easily lead back to the concept of a superior race, in which equal opportunity and acceptance of all people is impossible – a theory that was already tested and rejected due to violence and inequality.

Furthermore, involving money can become coercive. Some women will undergo the treatment, in spite of fear and medical risk out of desperation for money. Others may be tempted to be dishonest, and conceal genetic defects in order to make money (Roth, 2001). Psychological affects must also be taken into account. Women who donate eggs will then be surrounded in society by people who are genetically related to them, but not know who they are and, as a result, be constantly watching and wondering (The Ethics of Egg Donation, 2009). Is it right to do this to the woman? The medical risks faced by the donor, such as the possibility of ovarian hyper- stimulation and future infertility, also raise questionable ethics regarding whether such a procedure is right when other options, such as adoption, exist.

Ethical Hierarchy: Nature, Health, Convenience

The ethical value of donating eggs is therefore highly questionable from many perspectives. In order to achieve an accurate ethical analysis of this issue, these elements must be placed in a hierarchical order. There are many problems or difficulties, as discussed earlier, regarding egg donations, but do these objections really make it wrong or unethical? If so, which 5EGG DONATION ones carry the greatest weight? The different ideas brought up above deal with nature, health and convenience. Their priority should be marked by that order.

Nature, or the ontological reality of a being, is most important and, as a result, bears the greatest weight in ethical consideration. The medical reality, which can objectively affect the lifespan and quality of life and fertility of the egg donor, comes next. Issues of convenience are of least importance. In the final analysis, not only the current market system of egg donating, but the act itself is unethical because it goes against nature. A child naturally has two parents, a father and a mother. The psychological effects experienced by the egg donor are a result of going against nature. A birth that has resulted from egg donation does not come from one father and one mother, but from one father and two mothers. The baby has one genetic mother – the egg donor – but develops in the womb of another mother. Even though the second, acting mother is the one mainly involved in the baby’s life and has full parental rights over the baby, the egg donor is psychologically affected because she has contributed as a mother, but does not have the child. Psychological stress is just a manifestation of this rupture of nature. This issue also goes against nature to the extent that it leads to a personally designed or manufactured human being, with give characteristics that have been carefully selected and weeded through by the parents. This is against human nature, which uses genetic material from both the father and the mother to produce an individual, unique human being. Babies are human beings, not commodities. It is wrong to place a price on a baby – a human life – at all and even more so to adjust the price based on design. As a result, from the perspective of nature and ontology, the egg donor market is unethical.

This unethical character is further confirmed by the medical risks mentioned above and, finally, but the coercive way in which convenience is involved in order to lure women into 6EGG DONATION donating their eggs. Couples looking for donated eggs target college women, who are usually in need of money (The Ethics of Egg Donation, 2009). This shows deliberate manipulation, attaching something needed by the women with an action that goes against their nature. If their need for money is strong enough, these women will be pressured into going against their nature for economic convenience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, donating eggs, looking for a donated egg and trying to tailor design a child raises countless ethical questions. It is an act that can seem appealing. After all, isn’t it a fairly easy way to make another woman’s dream come true? Wouldn’t a woman, with a mothering instinct, sympathize with other women who have the same instinct but can’t have a child, and want to help them have that child? Of course they would. The market for egg donation has been built and fostered on the basis of such emotional appeal. Nevertheless, emotional appeal should not blind the intellect or hide the reality. No matter how kind it may seem to donate an egg, the action itself goes against the nature of the woman donating the egg, the ‘other’ mother who is going to give birth to the child, and the development of the baby. Jessica Cohen who, like other college women, was attracted by the price and the idea of helping another woman have a baby took time to think, and reached the right conclusion. The objective unethical dimensions of donating eggs outweigh the emotional appeal and convenience. 7EGG DONATION

References

Cohen, Jessica. (2002). Grade A: the market for a Yale woman’s eggs. The Atlantic. Retrieved

from http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/2002/12/cohen.htm

Roth, Rebecca. (2001). Egg donations. Serendip. Retrieved from

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f01/web2/roth.html

The Ethics of Egg Donation. (2009). Amplify. Retrieved from

http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/Leah627/2009/5/18/The-Ethics-of-Egg-Donation