EGGsplotation - The Darkside of the Infertility Industry

To the infertility industry, eggs spell enormous profit. The natural monthly rhythm of a woman's cycle is far too inefficient to satisfy the industry's voracious appetite. Consequently, egg donors are in hot demand. Infertility programs and their egg brokers place ads targeting young, healthy, college-aged women, characteristically altruistic, and short of cash, promising up to $50,000 in exchange for a carton of fresh eggs. A few weeks is all it takes. The risks are played down and the benefits seem obvious.

High dosages of fertility drugs, synthetic hormones called gonadotropins, are administered to superovulate the donor to produce eggs. Soreness, breast tenderness, mood swings, headaches and mild fluid retention can be anticipated. But over-hyperstimulation (called "ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome," or OHSS) is also possible. Should a donor be so unlucky, she might suffer excruciating abdominal pain, blood clots, infections, kidney failure, loss of her ovaries, shock, and, in rare cases, death. Oh, by the way, don't neglect to read the fine print: If because of complications a donor fails to deliver a full carton, jackpot's off. After all, a deal's a deal.

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