Buying eggs and sperm

A Guide for Patients. This includes using donated eggs, sperm, or embryos and gestational-carrier arrangements, in which the pregnancy is carried by someone other than the intended parent s. Surrogacy, also sometimes referred to as traditional gestational carrier, is a particular type of gestational-carrier arrangement where the woman who carries the pregnancy also provides the egg. Unless specifically indicated, the term gestational carrier in this booklet will refer to a woman who carries a pregnancy, but has no genetic link to the fetus. Third-party reproduction can be socially, ethically, and legally complex.

But who provides the eggs and sperm, and how do they think about their involvement? To find out, I combined historical and statistical evidence with interviews of staff and donors at egg agencies and sperm banks. My findings highlight the role of gendered stereotypes in the day-to-day operations of the fertility business. Different rules apply to male and female donors, who experience the transactions very differently.

The donation and transfer of human gametes eggs and sperm for reproductive purposes raises many important and difficult questions. Some of these relate directly to policy and practice; others are more conceptual. Gamete donation occupies an interesting position within bioethics, having something in common both with other forms of donation blood and organs, for example and with reproductive technologies not involving donation ranging from IVF through to more controversial areas like cloning, embryo selection, and genetic modification.

I'm in the midst of attending a conference where it is clear that most of the participants feel very strongly against both commercialized egg and sperm donation, as well as against anonymous gamete donation. These are not rare positions in Canadian circles, and are well-regarded in legal and other academic circles. The argument against anonymous gamete donation, at its most basic, is that it is not in the best interest of the children conceived from the use of these donor gametes who have the right to know their biological origins. For years now, ever since the Assisted Human Reproduction Act became law back in and prohibited the purchase of donor gametes from a donor or a person acting on behalf of a donor, most donor sperm used in Canada has been imported via the U. Much of that sperm is paid for by the sperm bank in a jurisdiction where it is legal to pay for gametes.