Human egg donation profitable but risky

By Deborah Wiig
The Metropolitan

The ads placed in many Colorado newspapers make it sound like easy money for a generous act: ăEgg Donors Needed: $2,000 compensation.ä 

But egg donors, many of whom are college-aged women, face potential risks to their health, and some programs arenât willing to stand behind donors if complications result.

Egg donor programs run the ads in at least three newspapers distributed on the Auraria Campus to recruit college women, aged 18 to 31, to donate their eggs to infertile women. Egg donor ads appear in The Metropolitan, Westword and the University of Colorado at Denver Advocate.

The Center for Reproductive Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center advertises in newspapers available on campus. It evaluates all potential donorsâ physical and mental health, as well as their family background and physical characteristics.

Once selected, the donors are put on birth control pills for a month or more to coordinate their cycles with the women who will receive the eggs. Doctors inject several other medications daily to stimulate ovaries to produce 10-15 eggs, instead of the one or two normally produced each month.

When the eggs are mature, they are removed by a needle inserted through the vagina and into the ovary. Anesthesia is used to reduce the pain.

The CU Health Sciences Centerâs consent form says the birth control pills ămay cause nausea, weight gain, and headaches, and in rare instances stroke, blood clotting, pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and liver tumors.ä

The drugs Lupron, Follistim, and Human Chorionic Gonadotropin stimulate the ovaries and prevent premature ovulation.

But, according to information from the center, Follistim can cause the
ovaries to become enlarged and fragile. Fluid can leak into the abdomen and lungs, requiring hospitalization in one out of every 100 women taking it.

The form does not mention any risks from Lupron and HCG. But a publication issued by National Lupron Victims Network warns of fatigue, headaches, insomnia, dizziness, muscle pain, hair loss, skin rash, hot flashes, memory loss, and ovarian cysts resulting from the drug.

The Physicians Desk Reference says HCG can cause headaches, depression, and irritability.
Other problems can occur when retrieving the eggs, including ăinfection, bleeding, or puncture of bowel or bladder,ä the consent form says.

The CU Health Sciences Center, however, will not cover medical expenses to treat the side effects from any of the drugs.

Maria Chavez, nurse coordinator for CU Health Sciences Centerâs egg donor program, acknowledged the risks, but said they were infrequent. She said overstimulating the ovaries could cause fluid to leak into the abdomen, but doctors do discuss side effects with the donors.

ăThe donor is responsible for those expenses,ä Chavez said.

The entire donation process takes six weeks to three months, Chavez said. The donors get $2,000 when they complete the program. The women who receive the eggs pay $11,000 for them.

Chavez said there have been a few calls from the centerâs ad in The Metropolitan, but no Auraria students have become donors so far.

Some women on campus said they would donate their eggs despite the risks involved.

ăIf I was in a time of financial need, yes, Iâd do it,ä said Tessa Houle, a University of Colorado at Denver biology major. ăI see it as a service to help people who canât have kids.

ăThe risks donât surprise me, there are risks with any drug. No one should go into it without understanding and accepting the risks. I consider it a relatively easy procedure.ä

Another student said she feels for infertile women but donating eggs is not worth the financial and health risks.

ăI sympathize with people who want the experience of children so badly that they are willing to take part in these experiments,ä said Laurel Gentile, a Metro  psychology major, and mother of three. ăMy cousin went through years of guilt, anguish, and frustration in trying to conceive.

ă(But) this could affect (the donorâs) reproductive future. $2,000 doesnât seem like enough. And to refuse to provide compensation if there are complications? Itâs a trap.ä

UCD junior Danielle Mason had other issues with the procedure.

ăIf it was for my sister, sure,ä she said. ăBut for a stranger? I donât know. Itâs odd. Itâs like buying and selling babies, isnât it?ä