If you donate your eggs to scientific research, you can’t receive any compensation. However, if you donate your eggs to fertility clinics, you can get thousands of dollars. This is according to laws of certain states in the US based on guidelines set by US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The non-compensation guideline is aimed to protect poor women from being exploited by researchers.

However, this law is restricting the progress of stem cell research, complain American researchers and they are asking that the law be changed.

Researchers need human egg cells in therapeutic cloning, one of most promising field of stem cell medical research. In therapeutic cloning, the nucleus (the part containing most of the DNA) of an egg cell is removed. The nucleus of an adult human cell is then inserted into the empty “egg shell” and from this new cell, stem cells can be produced. Scientists use this technique to study diseases by producing “diseased stem cells.”

However, in recent years, less and less women donate their eggs to science and go for the more profitable option – fertility clinics. You’d see advertisements everywhere that would go like this: “Pay your way through college by becoming an egg donor.” or “Need money? We will pay for your eggs.”

Being an egg donor is not easy. The procedure takes time (screening, consultation, clinic visits) and it can be painful (hormonal injection, and surgical removal of egg cells). It is no wonder that not many women are willing to do it for free.

The law, however, varies from state to state. Although some states are less stringent, in Massachusetts and California which are home to leading US stem-cell research institutes, compensation is out of the question. Researchers at Harvard University’s Stem Cell Institute spent US$100,000 on advertising campaigns for two years before they could get a single egg donor, according to Nature News. With such an amount, a fertility clinic can secure several donors.

This law is not unique to the US. In European countries, non-compensation is also the rule rather than the exception. In the UK, some universities have found some sort of middle ground. Couples in need of fertility treatments can have discounted prices in university clinics if they “share” some of their eggs to science during the fertility treatment procedure.

Source:

Nature News 11 June 2008 | Nature 453, 828-829 (2008)

A married British couple recently found out they were twins separated at birth. When they found out the heart wrenching news, a court immediately annulled their marriage, but it hasn?t been reported yet how long the couple was married or involved. This discovery brings up issues surrounding the rights of adopted children and children conceived from donor eggs or sperm.

Many childless adults seek adoption or donors to help them become parents, but children might not learn their true origins.

The twins? sad story was revealed at a debate about human fertility and embryology law, adding to concerns raised about laws surrounding donor conception.

What is the right course of action? Parents have to consider how their child might feel if they knew they were conceived from a donor. On the other hand, traumatic situations like British couple?s might continue to happen if there isn?t full disclosure.

Adoption groups point out that today?s adoptions are much more open, and the twins are less likely to be separated now. But what about donor-conceived children? Is it fair to have the fact of their conception printed on their birth certificate (a public document)?

I think this issue brings up more questions than answers. Even if there are no adoptions or donors, many children have half-siblings they may never know about. Is it really something that government needs to get involved with? Or should it be left up to the parents?

As a single woman, I knew I wanted to have children one day, and I considered using a sperm bank. Though I didn?t choose that path to motherhood, I still know that my daughter may have siblings and cousins that neither of us will ever know about. Am I worried? Not really. There are billions of people in the world, so the likelihood she will ever marry a close relative is like finding a needle in a haystack.

What do you think? If you have an adopted child, are you concerned he may one day marry his sister? If you?ve used a donor egg or sperm, do you think it would be better for your child to know this information or not?

Just by entering the keywords “sperm, donor, custody” into a search engine you will see a tremendous amount of links that will take you to article upon article concerning what responsibility a donor has, mainly regarding if they are required to pay child support or not. Many people are harmed emotionally regardless of the outcome, including the children created by the donation.

Recently a ruling in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed a decision that required a donor to pay child support plus back support for twins that were born to a previous lover. Joel L. McKiernan and Ivonne V. Ferguson, previous co-coworkers and love interests, ended their affair of two years prior to Ferguson asking McKiernan to donate sperm.

Ferguson, married to another man at the time, promised McKiernan that he would not be liable for child support, but backed out on her promise and sued him to gain current and back child support for her twins. Being “in the twins’ best interest”, a judge awarded support. It was this ruling that was reversed by appeal.

This situation leads many to debate on what role a donor – sperm or egg – should or should not play within a child’s life they help to create. Visitation and child support are just two of the many emotional roller coasters that families will travel on. In the eye of a donor they are simply that, only a donor. They are not asking for any responsibility when offering their help.

Source: Pa. Sperm Donor Wins Child Support Case, The Associated Press, from CBS.com