Human Egg Raffles: Clever or Deplorable?
You’d say it’s a different kind of Easter egg hunting, maybe the first one of its kind. A London-based fertility clinic is organizing a raffle and the grand prize is a human egg. And not just any egg. The lucky winner gets to choose the ideal egg donor, from her race to her hair color, from her educational background to her upbringing. What’s more, the prospective parents will have some sort of a pre-viewing of the potential offspring through childhood photos of the donors. Now, what about a blond-haired beauty with a PhD in nuclear physics?
But wait, there’s a hitch. Isn’t the clinic aware that commercial use of human eggs in the UK is illegal? Of course, the organizers are aware of it. That is why London Bridge Centre is clever enough to organize the raffle in the US in collaboration with the Genetics and IVF Institute in Virginia to circumvent British fertility laws. The IVF procedure will also take place in the US. The raffle will be held on Wednesday, March 17.
Who Benefits From The Egg Raffle?
- British women who are infertile but do not have access to eggs donors in their home country. In the UK, egg donation is not commercialized and the donors only get a minimal honorarium to defray expenses.
- Young American women in need of cash. According to The Daily Mail, on offer for the raffle are donors aged 19 to 32 who are university-educated and were strictly screened for health issues. As compensation, the American donor can get as much as 6,600 pounds (almost $10,000).
- The fertility clinics, which with this raffle and publicity stunt, hope to become the most sought-after fertility clinics on both sides of the Atlantic. For the American clinic, this will strengthen their place in the infertility tourism industry.
According to reports, the idea of the free egg raffle originated from the American side which at first “bemused” their British counterparts. But then they quickly warmed up to the idea. “They are much more market-driven than we are, and they do have some rather more creative techniques”, said the Britons about their American partners.
Criticisms
It is no surprise that the clinics received a lot of criticism.
According to Josephine Quintavalle, founder of Comment on Reproductive Ethics:
“The capacity of the IVF industry to commodify human life reaches a new low with this latest deplorable initiative. Imagine a child one day finding out that he or she came into being thanks to such a blatantly commercial initiative.”
What’s Your Opinion?
Do you think the clinics are doing the right thing? Would you consider participating in such a raffle if you need an egg donor? Would consider using any of the two clinics involved?
ioana says...
Well, my thoughts on the matter are quite contradictory. I mean, I don’t think that the clinic is doing the right thing (after all, they’re using a catch to avoind the legal impediments). On the other hand, if I were to need an egg donor, I think I would consider participating to the raffle.
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