SIB
Bioethics Review
The Scholl Institute is a nonprofit, Judeo-Christian organization that addresses bioethical issues
including euthanasia, physician-assisted-suicide, the withholding or withdrawing of food and
water from non-dying patients, brain death, organ transplantation, genetic engineering, and
the rights of disabled or mentally ill persons.
A New Threat to Women - Eggsploitation
Several years ago when taking a course at a local community
college we were astonished to see an ad to buy eggs in the
school paper. What was this all about? Eggs for what purpose?
Were they for the process of In Vitro Fertilization or also for
the making of embryos for experimentation which can lead to
cloning and drug testing? Now the truth is finally coming out.
This new film “Eggsploitaton” tells the facts that haven’t been
exposed before. Egg donations are endangering a woman’s
future fertility and likely harming her health in other ways.
About Eggsploitation
donation’ procedures. Every young woman considering ‘egg
donation’ as a way to generate income for school tuition or other
critical expenditures should see this film first. And policy makers
need to insist that we finally conduct the research that should
have been done years ago.
Judy Norsigian, Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves
This powerful, important and informative documentary gives
viewers true insight into the egg donation industry and helps
us to better understand the desperate need for regulation and
oversight. All prospective egg donors (and recipients) as well
as all practitioners and agency employees in the egg donation
industry should be required to watch this film!
The infertility industry in the United States has grown to
a multi-billion dollar business. What is its main commodity?
Human eggs. Young women all over the world are solicited by
Wendy Kramer, Director and Co-Founder, Donor Sibling Registry
ads—via college campus bulletin boards,
Eggsploitation is a powerful and
social media, online classifieds—offering
compelling film on the extreme risks and
“The
danger
is
the
eugenic
up to $100,000 for their “donated” eggs, to
disregard shown to women . . . a must see
desire to ‘bypass nature’s
“help make someone’s dream come true.”
for all egg donors and fertility patients. The
But who is this egg donor? Is she treated
lottery’ and produce
infertility industry’s practice of reproductive
justly? What are the short - and long-term
brilliant, attractive, athletic endocriminology is a “dirty little secret” and
risks to her health? The answers to these
should be secret no more.
and perfect people.”
questions will disturb you.
Lynne Millican, Founder, LupronVictimsHub.com
Produced by The Center for Bioethics
Rabbi Lou Feldman, Ph.D., Ethicist
What fertility clinics and egg donation
and Culture (Lines That Divide, 2009),
agencies may not tell you. This film should
Eggsploitation spotlights the booming
be seen by any woman considering becoming—or using—an
business of human eggs told through the tragic and revealing
egg donor so that she can better understand the medical risks
stories of real women who became involved and whose lives
involved.
have been changed forever.
What People Are Saying About Eggsploitation
Eggsploitation renders the medical risks of paid egg donation
with care and truth in every detail and makes a thoroughly
devastating case against the commodification of women and
their eggs.
Donald Landry, MD, PhD, Chair, Department of Medicine, Columbia
University School of Medicine.
It is a scandal that the infertility industry has gone so many years
without collecting adequate safety data on the risks of multiple
egg extraction. This makes informed consent impossible for the
thousands of young women now undergoing so-called ‘egg
Diane Allen, Infertility Network, Canada
Eggsploitation is a compelling and revealing documentary
that gives the viewer an up-close look at the flipside of the
infertility industry. You will meet women whose lives were
changed forever after undergoing the procedure for egg
donation. Their disturbing and heart wrenching stories tell a
cautionary tale to all women who are considering egg donation
for the purpose of in-vitro fertilization or embryonic stem cell
research. A must see film for researchers, physicians, professors,
college students and feminists.
Kelly Vincent-Brunacini, President, Feminists Choosing Life New York
Scholl Institute of Bioethics, 18030 Brookhurst PMB 372, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
626-574-7123 • email: [email protected]
Eggsploitation Glossary of Terms
Egg Donor: A woman who provides one or more eggs for the
purpose of assisting with in vitro fertilization (IVF) or scientific
research. An egg donor can donate for altruistic purposes or for
monetary compensation.
on paper to an agency who is out to just take from you for their
best interest and not yours. I went through this three times,
and I didn’t learn my lesson until I almost faced my death three
months ago.
That you can possibly die from this, and it’s not a joke, or worth
$5k or any amount of money. Losing your life would end your
Gamete: A reproductive cell containing half of the genetic
material necessary to form a complete human organism. During chances of making that money, period. I was a victim and I will
stand and speak about it. They are out there preying on ones
fertilization, male and female gametes (sperm and ovum,
like me.
respectively) fuse, producing a zygote.
Germ Cells: Cells comprising actual reproductive components
of a human organism (e.g., eggs, sperm).
Lahl: What would you say to a woman who was thinking of
donating/selling her eggs?
In Vitro: A process that takes place in the laboratory (e.g., in cell
culture).
Linda: JUST DONT DO IT. You don’t want the psychology of
the idea of a baby out there looking like you. You definitely
don’t want to go through the procedure, the injections, the
medication, and all the office procedures. It will ruin your
relationship with your family, and if you think it’s a way to get
back at them because you feel like they don’t care, this is NOT
the way.
n Vitro Fertilization (IVF): Refers to any technique in which
egg(s) and sperm are joined (or egg(s) are fertilized with sperm)
outside of the human body, creating a human embryo in the
laboratory.
Oocyte: An egg before maturation; a female gametocyte; also
referred to as an ovum.
Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS): A condition
that may result from the hormones administered for the
purpose of superovulation and occurs in some magnitude
(mild, moderate, severe) as a short-term complication. Milder
forms occur 10 percent to 20 percent of the time (American
Society of Reproductive Medicine, ASRM, 2005). Symptoms
of OHSS include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal
distention. More serious forms of OHSS result in fluid retention
and accumulation of fluid in the abdomen and pleural cavity,
which puts pressure and stress on major organs that can lead
to strokes, organ failure and respiratory compromise. The ASRM
(2003) states that more severe forms of OHSS, which result in
hospitalization, are “by no means rare.”
Somatic Cells: Cells from the body other than sperm or egg cells.
Sperm Donor: A man who provides sperm for the purposes of
assisting in IVF or scientific research. A sperm donor can donate
for altruistic purposes or for monetary compensation.
Superovulation: Process by which an egg donor’s ovaries are
stimulated to produce multiple eggs that can be used for IVF or
research. It involves the administration of a series of powerful
hormones to first suppress the ovarian function, and then to
superovulate the woman to produce large numbers of eggs (12
to 20, or more) that are then surgically extracted.
Zygote: A cell formed by the union of two gametes.
Interview by Jennifer Lahl, founder and President of The Center
for Bioethics and Culture Network.
Lahl: Linda, what do you want people to know?
Linda: I don’t want others to experience what I went through.
It felt like I was fighting a cancer that no one knew about, and
I felt so alone in this world. No one else was in my shoes, and I
got into this position myself and no one would understand—
not my parents, not my family, not my girlfriend. I just want
people to be aware of the consequences, because it’s not
something you think about before you decide to sign your life
Summary and Conclusion:
1) Ethical considerations:
Financial compensation for eggs disproportionately targets college
women with financial hardships. These women usually have
long academic careers ahead of them and have not considered
childbearing yet, so any infertility caused by the procedure would
cause more psychological and physical damage to these women.
Docked pay for failure to produce a target number of eggs and
escalating pay scales for subsequent cycles are factors that may
encourage underreporting of adverse side effects by the egg donor.
2) Subject safety:
Subject safety is variable, being highly dependent on the individual
clinician’s practice. This is why there needs to be standardized
safety practices and mandatory reporting of complications.
3) Informed consent:
Many are improperly informed about the risks of the egg
harvesting process. Verbally I was told that risk was virtually nonexistent and that studies have not linked the procedure to cancer
and infertility. I should have been told that there were not enough
studies or long-term follow up to determine risk.
4) Patient autonomy:
I was hyperstimulated with approximately 60 eggs retrieved.
During the procedure I expressed concerns about not using
weight-based dosing of fertility medication, the excessive number
of follicles produced, and skyrocketing estradiol levels. Nothing
was done to personalize my procedure based on clinical findings.
Permission granted by The Center for Bioethics and Culture - www.
cbc-network.org - [email protected]. The CBC is about
shedding light on the bioethics issues within our culture that most
profoundly affect our humanity—especially among the most
vulnerable.
References:
1. Nature. 2006 Sep 7;443(7107):26. Health effects of egg donation
may take decades to emerge.
2. American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 153, No. 11 : 1079-1084.
3. Assessing the Medical Risks of Human Oocyte Donation for Stem
Cell Research: Workshop Report (2007).
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