Pace Press

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Features

College students are willing to do almost anything for cash. Some will work a typical nine to five, some will take odd jobs in Williamsburg warehouses and others will be continuous subjects for medical and pharmaceutical studies. Other female college students weigh their options with egg donation. Media outlets, from newspapers to Facebook, present multiple advertisements for egg donation; most ads promise up to $10,000 for viable eggs. This large sum is extremely striking to college women with empty pockets, monthly bills and mounting student loans.

The fertility industry is a lucrative area of business. The percentage of children conceived through egg donation is increasing each year. As the offspring of the baby-boomers head to college, the prospect for eggs becomes larger and larger for couples with fertility difficulties. Couples are willing to put any price on the opportunity to bring a healthy child into the world. Thus, advertisements for egg donation are specifically set to target the college-aged demographic, as they are the prime candidates for healthy eggs.

WIth the prospect of gaining revenue from donating eggs, females often disregard the meticulous process of hormones and harvesting. The advertisements conveniently omit the pertinent information about the process. According to the New York State Department of Health, the prospective egg donor must take medications for up to three weeks to halt the normal function of the ovaries. After the first round of medications, the donor must then be injected with daily fertility drugs. Subsequently, the donor is given a final round of injections to prepare the eggs for harvesting.

Harvesting is the portion of the process where the eggs are finally removed. This process is called "transvaginal ovarian aspiration," described by the NYS Health department as a minor surgical procedure. The eggs are suctioned from the ovaries and the donor usually recovers from the procedure over several days. In many cases, donors will need follow-up care. Statistically, college-aged students are least likely to have medical coverage and the donor programs are not responsible for follow-up care. Follow-up care is not guaranteed, though it is provided by certain programs.

The procedure and follow-up care is a long and strenuous process. The medical checkups, including blood test and ultrasounds, must be coordinated around a usually demanding schedule of classes, internship and part-time employment. In addition to this the whole process are the high risks associated. Some women are susceptible to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), which is the uncomfortable and extremely painful swelling of the ovaries as a result of fertility drug treatments. In rare cases, an enlarged ovary may twist on its own stalk cutting off the blood supply, causing irreparable damage to the ovary. Other risks, like infection, make the chances for future donor conception very bleak.

Donors must also avoid unprotected sexual contact as this will result in the birth of twins, triplets or quadruplets.

The outcomes of egg donation are not always negative. In a USA Today report, a student named Kristin discovered an ad for egg donation in her campus newspaper. The student underwent the procedure and had positive results and claims an overall pleasant experience. She received $8,000 for her last donation and plans to receive more for the next. Some fertility programs pay more money for donors who have had successful results with prior donations.

If any student is considering egg donation, the student is strongly advised to do research on the process and the fertility program. The cash and the satisfaction of helping an infertile couple may be great, but it is more beneficial for students to make educated and well-informed decisions concerning physical health. The University currently promotes flyers from mydonor.com.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools