Exploiting poor women to get eggs for stem cell research

[Rosalinda]

Whether or not human embryonic stem cells will ever prove beneficial is one debate. Recognizing the personhood of HESC’s is yet another. Setting aside both these questions, the overarching ethical issue remains their source. Researchers cannot solve the remaining mysteries of nascent embryonic life without experimenting upon and destroying countless thousands, perhaps millions, of human oocytes (eggs). Who will provide them?

Nancy Reyes, a retired physician makes these observations:

the shortage of freely donated eggs or students willing to donate with payment in advanced countries can’t meet the demand. As a result, Eastern Europe is filling the gap. And indeed, there is already a large business paying** Romanian women** to donate eggs for infertile couples, many from the UK, and unlike Boston, they are paid only 150 UKpounds per egg cycle.
Again, this has even more ethical worries, since such women really need the money for their families, so would risk overmedication to produce more and more eggs, which could lead to more medical complications: the medical complication rate of giving medicine to make a woman produce eggs is 20% mild to moderate, 1% severe side effects.
Add to the mix the new “demand” for many more fresh eggs for medical research on “stem cells” and you can see the problem.

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