Bioethics in Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Number 1

15 Bioethics in Faith and Practice ⦁ 2019 ⦁ Volume 4 ⦁ Number 1 In the United States, sperm donors can be paid up to $125 per donation, depending on quality and/or quantity of usable sperm obtained. 30 Men with in-demand characteristics (including ethnicity, education, etc.) can be paid more. 31 Since the process for sperm donation is relatively simple, men can donate frequently, with some clinics offering up to $1,000 to $1,500 a month for frequent donors. 32 On average, egg donors are paid up to $10,000 or more, 33 but can donate only a few times at most, and have to undergo a fairly invasive procedure for extraction. Typically, egg donors undergo retrieval just as the would-be mother would in a non-donor IVF cycle: stimulation of ovulation followed by the in-clinic extraction procedure, with an average of about 13 eggs obtained. This does pose some risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and related side effects. 34 The question of paying gamete donors at all has been a controversial one. In many ways, this practice reflects the growing trend of medical consumerism. 35 Some argue that paying donors commodifies reproduction and makes children into a mere product. 36 Others hold that given the time and, in the case of egg donors, risk and pain required to donate, it would be unjust for donors not to be compensated; further, sufficient high-quality gametes would not be available without incentivizing donation in some way. 37 Also tied to the consumer trend in medicine is the question of whether couples should be permitted to choose the sperm/egg donor for their child. Typically, sperm banks collect various information about donors, biological and otherwise. Medical anthropologist Diane Tober describes a lesbian couple who described their sperm donor as “a doctor, 6 foot 4 inches, [who] played basketball and drank coffee.” 38 Medical information is always required for the sake of producing a healthy child, but donor profiles also often include secondary characteristics. For instance, recipients can choose a donor according to biological traits such as height, ethnicity, etc., as well as personal information like career, hobbies, and habits. Both recipients and repositories select sperm donors based on a particular profile. As Tober observed, “Sperm donation, then, provides a window to reproductive values and a social/moral system, as well as the dynamics between culture and biology.” This practice seems to indicate that certain traits are valued more highly than others and worth selecting for when choosing how to produce a child (the same considerations apply in the case of egg donation). Often, recipients choose donors of the same ethnic and educational background as themselves. 39 30 An Ravelingien et al., "Recipients' Views on Payment of Sperm Donors," Reproductive BioMedicine Online 31 (2015), 225-231. 31 Diane Tober, "Semen as Gift, Semen as Goods: Reproductive Workers and the Market in Altruism," Body and Society 7 (2001), 137-160. 32 Ravelingien, "Recipients' Views on Payment of Sperm Donors," , 225-231 33 Shapiro, "Payment to Egg Donors is the Best Way to Ensure Supply Meets Demand," , 73-84 34 Cynthia Cohen, "Reproductive Technologies: V. Gamete Donation," in Encyclopedia of Bioethics , 2004). 35 Liz Meerabeau, "Consumerism and Health Care: The Example of Fertility Treatment," Journal of Advanced Nursing 27 (1998), 721-729. 36 Meilaender, Bioethics: A Primer for Christians 37 Shapiro, "Payment to Egg Donors is the Best Way to Ensure Supply Meets Demand," , 73-84 38 Tober, "Semen as Gift, Semen as Goods: Reproductive Workers and the Market in Altruism," , 137-160 39 Diane Tober, "Semen as Gift, Semen as Goods: Reproductive Workers and the Market in Altruism," Body and Society 7 (2001), 137-160.