USA Today Examines Payments Made To Egg Donors In U.S.

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 21 Mar 2006 - 6:00 PDT

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USA Today on Thursday examined how some "fertility clinics and brokers are bidding up prices for eggs sold by cash-strapped college women with top test scores and picture-perfect looks." According to USA Today, a 1992 federal law requires fertility clinics to disclose rates of successful pregnancies and births from donor eggs to CDC, but the agency does not regulate money paid to egg donors. Although clinics and brokers often pay women for their time regardless of whether their eggs result in a pregnancy, "fees are often higher for donors with a track record of producing lots of eggs resulting in birth," USA Today reports (Hopkins [1], USA Today, 3/16). California's $3 billion human embryonic stem cell research program has "ignited a race" among states considering similar legislation that would authorize state funds for such research, which could "boost demand for human egg donors," according to USA Today (Hopkins [2], USA Today, 3/16). Other countries, such as Canada, have passed measures to restrict payments to egg donors, and state legislatures in Arizona and California are considering similar restrictions or bans (Hopkins [1], USA Today, 3/16).

CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday is scheduled to include a segment on extended families created through assisted reproductive technologies, such as anonymous sperm donation, who are meeting their "donor siblings" and male sperm donors through a Web site (Kroft, "60 Minutes," CBS, 3/19). A transcript and video of the story will be available online after the broadcast.

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