Egg sharing and egg donation: attitudes of British egg donors and recipients

The question of payment to egg donors has recently focused the attention ofboth the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and licensedclinics. An acute shortage of egg donors and the rising costs of assistedconception treatment are matters of grave concern to many patients. Tounderstand the emotional and social effects of egg sharing and eggdonation, we conducted a survey of attitudes in a group of women who hadsome knowledge or experience of egg donation. A total of 750 questionnaireswere sent out of which 217 were returned within the specified time limit.From these, 107 respondents had experience of egg donation and 110 had madeenquiries about donation. The data from these questionnaires were collatedand tabulated by the National Opinion Polls (NOP) Research Group. Ananalysis of the data produced the following key findings: (i) donating orsharing eggs is a social issue, 94% discuss it withpartners/family/friends; (ii) altruistic motives are not the prerogative ofnon-patient volunteers-egg share donors felt that helping the childless wasas important as having a chance of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) forthemselves; (iii) the treatment procedure causes the most anxiety for eggdonors. The recipients were most concerned about delays, donorcharacteristics and how the eggs were allocated; (iv) most respondents(65%) with prior experience of egg sharing would do it again - 63% of eggshare donors, 72% of egg share recipients; (v) cash rewards to egg donorsand outright advertising for donors were rejected by 64 and 62% of thesample respectively; and (vi) counselling was highly valued and there wereno instances of 'shattered lives' after treatment. The findings do notsupport the recently announced intentions of the HFEA to disallow paymentto gamete donors on the grounds of devalued consent. There is no precedentin modern medicine for egg sharing. The patients surveyed drew a cleardistinction between egg sharing and financial rewards. As long as eggdonation is not covered by the National Health Service, it is fairer tooffer egg sharing than to refuse treatment to those unable to pay.