Nations Begin to Debate Ethics o

Nations Begin to Debate Ethics of Sale and Donation of Human Ova

By Samantha Singson

(NEW YORK - C-FAM) The UN General Assembly passed a political declaration last year calling on Member States to avoid all forms of human cloning. The declaration was nonbinding and not unanimous but a number of nations are actively debating the issue of allowing the sale and use of the human ova for both reproductive and research purposes. Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain and several Eastern European countries are just some of the countries which are currently consulting on the matter.

Increasingly, reports are surfacing that women are coming under pressure to have their eggs frozen for future IVF treatment or to donate them for research. Until recently in the United Kingdom, scientists were not allowed to offer financial incentives to women to donate their eggs. For the first time last July, however, the British Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) granted permission to an English fertility center to pay women undergoing IVF treatment to donate their eggs for

research cloning.

The extraction of human eggs is an invasive, high-risk procedure with potentially grave consequences to the life and health of women. Women have been reported to die as a result of egg donation. Studies are currently being conducted on the link between cancer and the drugs given to women to help hyper-stimulate ovulation for egg harvesting. The long-term effects of

egg donation on women are still unknown and many groups from both left and right are coming out against egg donation.

Katrina George, a member of the group "Hands Off Our Ovaries," explained that cloning embryos to obtain stem cells requires a large supply of ova and that the methods used to harvest them posed grave risks to women's health. George argued, "Cloning always amounts to the commodification of women's bodies. Politicians and scientists must not use women as guinea pigs in a technology that has no proven benefits."

There are mounting concerns that monetary incentives might induce poor women to undergo the procedure without fully being informed of the potential health risks. In August, the European Commission launched an investigation into a Spanish fertility clinic as members of the European Parliament suspected the clinic was targeting poor women immigrants. While Spanish law does not permit payment for egg donation, the clinic had been offering $600 - $1200 to pay for the "discomforts" suffered by women during the process of egg donation.

During negotiations for the UN Declaration on Human Cloning, it was clear that there was a North-South divide. While the majority of industrialized, Western countries fought against any restrictions on cloning for research purposes, many developing nations expressed their concerns regarding the potential exploitation of women. Nigeria warned that "developing countries, particularly in Africa, are most likely to be at risk as easy source[s] of millions of eggs required for the so-called therapeutic

cloning" because "poverty and ignorance" will expose women to "exploitation by the emerging 'academic entrepreneurs'."

Australia is currently debating whether to renew its ban on all forms of human cloning. Australian deputy health minister John Anderson asked, "As cloning embryos for their stem cells depends on a sufficient supply of ova, who's going to supply the eggs?" He continued, "I venture to say it won't be ordinary, comfortably-off, middle-class Australian women who'll be doing it."

HFEA's public consultations on egg donation will continue through November and a ruling is expected early next year.

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