Back to School: Have Gametes, Get Cash
Posted by Marcy Darnovsky August 30, 2007
Biopolitical Times
Personal accounts by college students thinking about selling their eggs and sperm are featured on the cover of this week's New York Press. The sperm-selling story is routine, though the writer does briefly note that "a growing movement is trying to make the entire process more transparent."
Feminist Jill Colvin packs a lot of information and a fascinating chronicle of her experiences and reactions into "The Baby Factory: One young woman faces the temptation of selling her eggs." She starts out with "excitement and visions of empowerment," but finds herself increasingly discomfited as she learns about the risks of egg retrieval, confronts the "human Sears catalogue" of donors, and considers the consequences. In the end, she backs out:
Feminist Jill Colvin packs a lot of information and a fascinating chronicle of her experiences and reactions into "The Baby Factory: One young woman faces the temptation of selling her eggs." She starts out with "excitement and visions of empowerment," but finds herself increasingly discomfited as she learns about the risks of egg retrieval, confronts the "human Sears catalogue" of donors, and considers the consequences. In the end, she backs out:
It turns out that the feminist who was so certain that her eggs were nothing but useless cells felt a little too uncomfortable with the idea of selling them, regardless of how much cash was on the table….at least for now, my eggs aren't for sale.
