Eggonomics: The Ethical Implications of Providing Private Party Egg Donor Compensation

Authors

  • Deonna Hodges Stanford Undergraduate

Keywords:

Egg donation, compensation, in vitro fertilization

Abstract

This essay explores the ethical issues surrounding the United States' liberal policy toward private party egg donor compensation.  It identifies two ethically differentiable types of compensation: burden-based compensation and desired-trait compensation, and systematically explores the arguments for and against each type.  After a discussion of issues such as the wealth-based disparities between egg seekers and donors, the undermining of informed consent, the commodification of children, and the sociopsychological consequences of rewarding those with ";;;desirable";;; traits, the essay ultimately concludes that, in light of the potential social harms of a system of desired-trait compensation, a policy of burden-based compensation may be less ethically problematic.

Author Biography

  • Deonna Hodges, Stanford Undergraduate
    Stanford University '10
    B.S. Candidate | Science, Technology and Society
    B.A. Candidate | Economics

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Published

2009-09-28

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2009)

Section

Comments

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