CBS' 'Evening News' Examines Fertility Clinics' Payments To College-Age Egg Donors

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 22 May 2006 - 16:00 PDT

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CBS' "Evening News" on Wednesday reported on the "emerging market" of fertility clinics paying female college students to donate their eggs. According to CBS, 75% of current egg donors are college-age women. Debora Spar -- professor at Harvard Business School and author of the book, "The Baby Business: How Money, Science and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception" -- estimates that egg donation is a $40 million industry. She also says that women are paid between $5,000 and $8,000 per donation cycle, but the price of eggs can be as high as $35,000 for specific donor attributes. The segment also includes comments from Helane Rosenberg, egg donor coordinator at IVF New Jersey, and a female college student who donated her eggs (Kaledin, "Evening News," CBS, 5/17).

The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.

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