Various new sources report outrage at an American fertility clinic trying to hone in on the UK market by raffling a egg  -  a human one, not an Easter one – at a recent seminar. 

And why their interest in the UK at all? 

In Europe, it is illegal for women to sell their eggs. In the USA selling this particular body part is quite legal.  Women are paid anything from $10,000 US to $35,000 US or more for their eggs. Consequently there are not as many eggs available in the UK. 

Not wanting to miss a new market, and in total contempt for that market’s moral norms embodied in its laws on the subject, Genetics & IVF Institute raffled one free cycle of in vitro fertilisation using the eggs of a US egg seller donor.  The raffle winner will be able to determine which egg seller donor to use by analyzing donors’ education, racial background and upbringing. Total prize value? About $USD 23,000.

Specialists throughout Europe, Australia and even the USA, itself, have strongly criticised the event.  However the company defended themselves claiming they were not raffling human egg they were simply raffling in vitro fertilisation services – the eggs just happened to be part of those services. 

A spokesperson for American Society for Reproductive Medicine said that “if they can win a contest that is going to allow them to build their families, and a physician is going to offer a service that can help them do that, then we applaud them.”

So there’s a new idea for a reality TV show.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Hot Flash!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.