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NRL News
British
Agency Approves Cash for Human Egg Donations Calling it “not a payment, but compensation,” the British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will allow women to receive up to £250 (almost $500) to donate their eggs for research into human cloning and stem cells. Women can also receive discounts on in vitro fertilization (IVF) if they allow doctors to remove more eggs than necessary and use some for research. The HFEA announced new egg donation regulations February 21. Previously, only surplus eggs from women undergoing IVF could be used by other women hoping to get pregnant, but the eggs were not able to be used for research, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Two centers in Britain hold licenses for “therapeutic cloning,” according to The Scotsman, and will probably be the recipients of the eggs donated under the new regulations. “Therapeutic cloning” means they seek to clone human beings, kill them, and harvest their stem cells for research. Many in Britain objected to the money that will now be changing hands and the use of the eggs to create new human life that will then be killed. “The commercialisation of human tissue is a serious threat to the inherent value of human life, which is a longstanding principle of ethics,” said Anthony Ozimic, political secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, in a press release. “To sell oneself, or parts of oneself, leads to devaluing of human beings. Human beings must be valued as persons; we are not commodities.” The new rules come as more evidence is found that egg donation could carry serious risks to the donor. Researchers at the University of Padua published a study in Thrombosis and Thrombolysis contending that the powerful drugs used to stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs could cause paralysis, limb amputation, and death, according to the Sunday Telegraph. “Among all women undergoing infertility treatment, one in 10 will suffer milder forms of the adverse reaction called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) while 1 per cent are at risk of life-threatening blood disorders, the scientists found,” the Telegraph reported. Increasing the number of egg donors could only increase the number of complications. Gita Nargund of St George’s Hospital, London told the Telegraph that she knows of two women who died of OHSS in Britain, as well as another egg donor who died during the collection procedure. “The risks of this procedure must be taken into account,” she said. “It is not like blood donation and we have to ask ourselves if it’s really necessary. If we are recruiting donors for anything, it is important that what we are doing is as safe as possible.” Adding money to the donation protocol only opens it up to abuse, according to critics. “The HFEA will in effect allow financial incentives for people to undergo risky procedures for the benefit of research, which is exploitative,” said Ozimic. “It will be the poor and disadvantaged who will be attracted by this kind of financial reward. Exploiting vulnerable people is patently unethical.” |