From Tuesday’s USA today:
Sperm, egg donors increase during recession
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
CHICAGO — Sperm banks and donor agencies say the recession is prompting a surge in calls from people who hope to make money by donating their sperm or eggs.
"We've seen a definite spike" of about 40% since February, says Kim Springfield, vice president of sales for Health News, an Irvine, Calif., company that operates a national referral service for donors.
Similarly, Robin von Halle, president of Alternative Reproductive Resources in Chicago, which works with egg donors, reports "Our calls have just about doubled," and David Battaglia at Oregon Health & Science University Fertility Consultants in Portland describes "easily a 25-30% increase in calls in the last nine months."
This information will not be surprising to those familiar with the U.S. gamete (egg or sperm) market. The market has for some time been robust, international, and growing, thanks to advances in fertility treatments; new sources of demand that include older, single, and gay and lesbian parents; and overseas regulatory changes that have prompted gamete shortages and a thriving export market. CDC data suggest that in 2006 alone more than 7500 children were born from “donor eggs.” Although figures on the number of children born through the use of commercially purchased sperm are more variable, reports suggest that the number may be nearly as high, and perhaps higher, than the number born through the use of commercially purchased oocytes. (See here for the source of all underlying facts and figures)
The gamete market can also be profitable, which no doubt explains the surge in donor interest during tough economic times. This is because with respect to both eggs and sperm, the phrase “donation” is largely a misnomer in the United States, where nearly all gametes from unrelated donors are procured through payment.
As noted in this prior post on New York’s decision to allow compensation to egg donors in connection with stem cell research, egg donor compensation in the United States varies widely, with prices as low as $1,500 and as high as $150,000 reported. But surveys of fertility clinics and donor agencies listed with the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) report average compensation rates per donation cycle of $4217 and $5200, respectively, although there are reasons to believe that these numbers understate the true national average.
Sperm donor compensation varies less than does egg donor compensation and has generated comparatively little controversy or discussion in the United States. The Web sites of most sperm banks report compensation levels of between $50 and $100 per usable sample, consistent with the reported national average of $75. Payment levels may increase upon the completion of stated goals, and bonuses are typically paid for such acts as successfully referring a friend, and upon completion of the exit blood test six months after exiting the donor program.
Using these numbers as the best available, though still imperfect, pricing guide, egg and sperm donors receive a roughly equal average hourly compensation of between $75 and $93 for time spent in a medical setting. (See here, pp. 14 & 20 to see how these hourly averages were calculated) However, egg donors – unlike sperm donors – experience pain, discomfort, and inconvenience outside of the time spent in a medical setting due to the effects of hormone therapy, and face health risks that sperm donors do not. In other words, with a number of caveats regarding the reliability of these payment estimates, egg donors appear to be underpaid relative to sperm donors, suggesting some successful price suppression from the previously discussed attempts to restrict oocyte prices.
Before concluding that either sperm or egg donation sounds like a great way to supplement your law prof income, you should know that both egg and sperm donors are rigorously screened prior to acceptance (and that most of you are probably too old). The large majority of both sets of applicants (estimates proffered by egg agencies and sperm banks range from 80-90%) is either rejected or withdraws from the program early in the process.
One item from the USA Today article did catch me off guard, though. Carol Miller-Woods, donor coordinator at North Hudson IVF in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., says that she “has gotten calls from at least 100 men inquiring about donating their ‘eggs.’” I confess that I don’t know what to make of that one. Although my review of advertisements, recruiting materials, and selection procedures leads me to surmise that the average sperm purchaser values height and sperm motility more than high intelligence, hopefully these male “egg donors” are not being referred to a partner sperm bank.
Related Post: Sunny Samaritans or Entrepreneurs? New York Allows Egg Donor Payments For Stem Cell Research
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