From scarcity to sisterhood: The framing of egg donation on fertility clinic websites in the UK, Belgium and Spain

Coveney, Catherine; Hudson, Nicky; Funes, Sara Lafuente; Jacxsens, Lara; Provoost, Veerle

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114785

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Within this view, some providers saw egg donation as a commercialised practice in which profit was unevenly distributed. These varied cases illuminate how, within the organising category of 'egg donation', we find differing donation regimes (Coveney et al, 2022;Healy, 2000), which produce varying narratives, framings and experiences. In the UK, we might think about this framing as a system of 'informed gift-giving', in Belgium, as a form of 'trusted tissue exchange' and in Spain, as a system of 'closed-door, market-driven donation'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Egg donation in the age of vitrification: A study of egg providers’ perceptions and experiences in the UK, Belgium and Spain

Funes

Weis

Hudson

et al. 2022

Sociology Health & Illness

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IVF treatment involving donated eggs increases yearly.Numerous technical and commercial transformations have reshaped how eggs are retrieved, stored and managed. A key transformation is vitrification; a 'fast freezing' method that allows efficient preservation of eggs, and therefore more flexibility in use, giving rise to new commercial possibilities. There has been limited focus on egg providers' experiences in the context of vitrification and related commercialisation. We report findings from a study in the UK, Spain and Belgium, where we interviewed 75 egg providers. Comparing experiences within different donation 'regimes' allows an exploration of how varying national practices and policies shape information-giving and women's experiences. In the UK, a system of 'informed gift-giving' was described, where egg providers saw their actions as not-for-profit and felt relatively well informed. In Belgium, the system was presented as 'trusted tissue exchange': with less information-giving than in the UK, but clinics were trusted to act responsibly. In Spain, a 'closed-door, market-driven' system was described, whereby egg providers received little information and

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Egg donation in the age of vitrification: A study of egg providers’ perceptions and experiences in the UK, Belgium and Spain

Funes

Weis

Hudson

et al. 2022

Sociology Health & Illness

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“…Researchers identify a remarkably similar pattern of the gendered altruistic framing of egg donation as outside of the commercial sphere in many countries, despite widely varying levels of compensation and differing legal rules governing the recruitment and payment of egg donors (Coveney et al, 2022;Marre et al, 2018). As noted by one set of authors (discussing egg donation in Belgium, Spain, and the United Kingdom):…”

Section: Egg Donationmentioning

confidence: 94%

Markets, repugnance, and externalities

Krawiec

2022

Journal of Institutional Economics

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This Article considers one aspect of the ongoing debate about the moral limits of markets – namely, the purported harmful effects of market transactions on particular relations, goods, services, or society at large, due to an inappropriate valuation. In other words, the argument is that some markets are ‘repugnant’ because they degrade and corrupt a variety of nonmarket values and relations, not just to the willing parties to the exchange, but to larger segments of society. This objection contains both a (frequently unacknowledged) empirical component and a moral component. This Article critiques these empirical claims on two grounds. First, market skeptics fail to provide evidence of the negative effects they hypothesize, despite widespread variation over time and across legal regimes. Second, these objections fail to account for the well-documented human tendency to fashion repugnant exchanges in a manner that reinforces – rather than undermines – deeply held values and relationships.

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“…The absence of official institutions has allowed underground egg sellers to survive, which are difficult to regulate effectively. At the same time, since most commercial egg donors do not want their identities to be revealed and choose to donate eggs anonymously, there may be social problems such as inbreeding and confusion of relatives [12]. These social problems are rooted in the absence of relevant laws and regulations.…”

Section: Lack Of Proper Regulation Of Egg Donationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If Chinese women want to freeze their eggs to ensure the quality of their eggs and maintain them in optimal fertility conditions, there is currently no support from legal, public medical institutions. This means that others are unable to freeze or donate their eggs in public hospitals and have to go through underground, illegal medical facilities [12]. At the same time, some scholars believe that the Code of Human Assisted Reproductive Technology issued by the National Health Commission is only applicable to medical personnel in medical institutions as a professional code, and is not legally binding, so it is not applicable to ordinary citizens.…”

Section: The Egg Donation Platform Has Not Been Fully Establishedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the advent of vitrification freezing technology, the potential damage to the internal structure of the egg is reduced and the success rate of egg thawing and fertilization is increased. After that, a series of controlled experiments showed that the success rate of pregnancy results after IVF using vitrification frozen eggs was comparable to that of fresh eggs [12].Reproductive assistance technologies are maturing and there's in vitro fertilization, which involves conventional in vitro fertilization --embryo transfer [13]. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis Preimplantation biopsy and genetic analysis are performed on embryos of patients with genetic risk, and embryos without such genetic diseases are implanted into the uterine cavity to obtain normal fetuses, which can effectively prevent the birth of children with genetic diseases [14].In China, public medical institutions can carry out test-tube surgery independently, which lays a foundation for egg donation and related work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Research on The Legal Path of Female Egg Donation in China under The Background of Low Fertility Rate

Ye¹,

Zhou²

2023

EHSS

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With the fertility rate declining yearly in China, egg donation has become a meaningful way to solve people's infertility and improve fertility. However, more laws and regulations on egg donation behavior norms and constraints must be more relevant. Promoting the legalization of egg donation in China and establishing a standardized national unified egg bank can help infertile parents reproduce through reproductive assistance technology and improve the national fertility level. Through literature review and summary, this paper found that there are ethical and moral risks, lack of reasonable supervision, and the egg donation platform has yet to be fully established in China. Therefore, it is necessary to establish and improve the relevant legal management system of egg banks and carry out more standardized and strict supervision and legal regulations on the specific procedures of egg donation, egg use, egg collection, and egg freezing. The public welfare of voluntary egg donation should be publicized more to reduce the possibility of commercial egg donation and egg freezing. Pay attention to the construction of egg banks, conduct data statistics, prevent the occurrence of inbreeding, protect the privacy of egg donors more comprehensively, and provide encouraging economic compensation to egg donors; Finally, the physical and mental health and safety of egg donors should be guaranteed to reduce the risk of egg donation.

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From scarcity to sisterhood: The framing of egg donation on fertility clinic websites in the UK, Belgium and Spain

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Egg donation in the age of vitrification: A study of egg providers’ perceptions and experiences in the UK, Belgium and Spain

Egg donation in the age of vitrification: A study of egg providers’ perceptions and experiences in the UK, Belgium and Spain

Markets, repugnance, and externalities

Research on The Legal Path of Female Egg Donation in China under The Background of Low Fertility Rate

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