The financial crisis has resulted in an increasing number of women willing to sell their eggs at U.S. fertility clinics, with potential payments of up to $10,000, Reuters reported.
One woman in New York City, who has been out of work since November, said she decided to sell her eggs because her bills were mounting up.
Nicole Hodges, a 23-year-old actress, said she has been accepted as donor and is waiting to be chosen by a couple.
“I’m still paying off college. I have credit card bills and, you know, rent in New York is so expensive,” she said.
Growing interest in egg donation has been reported in fertility organizations across the country. Since the start of 2008, the Center for Egg Options in Illinois has seen a 40 percent increase in egg donor inquiries.
Inquiries have doubled at New York City’s Northeast Assisted Fertility Group and the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine said it had received 10 percent more interest from donors.
The Reproductive Science Center of New England, which does not deal directly with egg donors, said it had gone from no inquiries to now receiving several a month.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends that total payments to donors be capped at $10,000. The U.S. national average payment was $4,216, according to a 2007 study. Payments by clinics in the Northeast were found to average just over $5,000, while those in the Northwest averaged just under $3,000.
However, while some women see donation as an easy way to make money, not everyone is accepted, according to Katherine Bernardo, egg donor program manager at Northeast Assisted Fertility Group.
She said that while the current economic climate encourages women to find creative ways to make money, it doesn’t actually mean that anyone interested in egg donation goes on to donate.
“So few women are actually eligible,” she added.
A mere 5 to 7 percent of the applications Bernardo receives result in the retrieval of eggs. She said an ideal candidate should be in her twenties, healthy, attractive and well educated.
Women interested in donating eggs must go through rigorous medical, psychological and genetic testing as well as a background check. Once they are qualified, donors must undergo hormone injections until the eggs are ready to be harvested.
Bernardo said the economy also puts strain on the recipients as well.
“It’s a very expensive undertaking to use a donor egg and an IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle.”
Women should not donate their eggs simply for the money, according to Eric Surrey, medical director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine.
Surrey, a past president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, said that while financial compensation is certainly one motivation, it should never be the sole motivation.
“These women are providing a great gift to others that should not be taken lightly,” he added.
On the other end of the fence, men looking to donate sperm do not receive nearly the same amount of compensation.
Several New York City-based sperm banks, where men are paid about $60 each time they donate, have not reported any increase in donor applicants.
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