Our bodies, our sales

Lindsay Comstock

Think women: You are still recuperating from that last Sac State tuition bill, your rent payment is looming, your credit card bills are mounting from your latest fashion obsession and you don’t even want to calculate how much cash you shredded over Spring Break.

You are in major debt and it seems that there is no light at the end of this tunnel.

What do you do when you need some quick cash?

Well, you respect yourself too much to decide to show off your birthday suit at the “amateur night” in the local Strip Club, but you are feeling really desperate.

Have you ever wondered about those ads in the magazines you read or even those featured in the State Hornet asking for “ovum donors”?

The going rate for egg donations in the U.S. range from $2500 to $5000 per donation. That’s a pocketful of quick cash.

Sound enticing?

Well, to many women, I’m sure it does.

A young woman I know, “Lauren,” was in the same financial predicament and was seriously considering answering one of those ads. She didn’t want to ask her parents for the extra cash and couldn’t figure out how else to make that much money so easily. “Lauren” said that for her, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, and that she wouldn’t really think twice about doing it.

But women should think twice before resorting to literally selling a part of themselves.

Like abortion, this really just becomes an issue of moral upbringing. To some, the thought of donating an egg is not a big deal at all. But for others, it means that you could have a child out there somewhere that you will never know.

In the U.S., 0.9 percent of total births are due to assisted reproductive technology. In the year 2000, the Center for Disease Control reported that approximately 35,000 babies were born as a result of Assisted Reproductive Technology. This was a 67 percent increase over the total number of babies born as a result of ART in 1996. So, in reality artificial insemination may just be the wave of the future.

In Canada, it is illegal to advertise for egg donors.

So where should the line be drawn?

Men do it all the time. Sperm banks thrive off of donations. For men it is simple. Just look at some porn and masturbate into a cup.

But, for women, who are born with all of the ova that they will ever have, eggs are much more valuable and the procedure much more complicated.

The ads fail to tell you that travel is usually required, along with fertility medication and medical appointments. Not to mention the effects that a surgical procedure like this can have on one’s physical and psychological health. The process includes applications, interviews, physical exams, medications to stimulate ovary production, and finally, vaginal egg retrieval. The side-effects are usually cramping and pre-menstrual symptoms.

But these ads target young women. If you are under the age of thirty, disease-free and naive, then you are a perfect candidate for the program. Just like a farm animal, your eggs are sold.

So many facets of society are eager to exploit women. The media objectifies women too much already. Why is it that you rarely see ads for sperm banks? Is it me, or do the ads for ovum donors seem to be taking advantage of women even further?

Many of the medical centers that specialize in reproductive assistance are credible. For couples that are unable to conceive children naturally, the option of having an egg donor is miraculous.

I spoke to a representative of one of the medical centers listed in the State Hornet. I found that the process involves a four-week time commitment from the time that you apply, go through physical exams and take medications to the time of egg retrieval.

What was even more surprising, though, is that many of these centers are completely anonymous. The couples never meet the egg donor, and the egg donor’s identity is kept anonymous. That means that later in life, you could walk right past your son or daughter, on one of twelve of them, and never know the difference. The representative said that the average number of eggs that they take is twelve.

But, hey, the $5000 is tax-free.

This isn’t a lecture on an issue that is obviously one of personal values, but instead to say to all women: think before you make such a drastic decision such as this. Respect yourselves and your bodies.

Some extra cash is not worth selling yourself, or your genes, for that matter.

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