Hands Off Our Ovaries! Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Human Cloning, and Risks to Women through Egg Donation C. Ben Mitchell, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Bioethics & Contemporary Culture Trinity International University & Graduate School

Women Are Increasingly Valued for their Egg Making Properties

How Much for Dozen Eggs?

Special Egg Donor Needed Preferred donor will meet the following criteria: Height 5’-6” or taller Caucasian High ACT or SAT score College student or graduate under 30 No genetic medical issues Extra compensation for gifted athlete, science/math student or musician $80,000

Preferred donor will meet the following criteria:

Height 5’-6” or taller

Caucasian

High ACT or SAT score

College student or graduate under 30

No genetic medical issues

Extra compensation for gifted athlete, science/math student or musician

ID Race Parent Ethnicity SkinTone Eyes HairColor HairTexture Height Weight About 110482 C German/German Fair Grn Lt. Brn Wavy 5ft 6in 128-LB Law student, Tennis 050778 H Panama/Mexico Olive Brn Blk Str 5ft 6in 128-LB Education major 061278 J Japan/Japan Fair Brn Blk Str 5ft 3in 102-LB Fashion Design 061478 C English/Scottish Med Blu Blnd Wavy 5ft 8in 125-LB Finance, Travel 122879 B Afro/Afro Black Brn Blk Curly 5ft 9in 144-LB Pre-Med, Track 081378 C Irish/German Med Hzl Brn Str 5ft 4in 124-LB Culinary Arts, Chef, Painting 032280 B Afro/US Blk Brn Blk Curly 5ft 8in 132-LB Accounting,Tennis, Golf 101477 H Mexico/Mexico Olive Brn Blk Str 5ft 4in 126-LB Dance, Sing, Gymnastics 111677 C English/English Fair Grn Blnd Wavy 5ft 9in 138-LB Art, Computer Sciences 042282 C French/Canadian Fair Grn Blnd Str 5ft 7in 128-LB Math, Physics 061880 C Italian/Italian Fair Grn Blk Str 5ft 7in 124-LB Literature, History, Tennis 020780 C Irish/French Fair Hzl Blk Str 5ft 6in 118-LB Hiking, Tennis, Reading 040179 B Nigeria/So.Afr. Blk Brn Blk Str 5ft 8in 117-LB Modeling, Tennis 062478 C Irish/English Fair Blu LtBrn Wavy 5ft 6in 122-LB Language, Education 021284 C Dutch/German Fair Blu Brn Str 5ft 6in 128-LB Teaching, Tennis 120483 C Russian/Russian Fair Brn Brn Wavy 5ft 5in 132-LB Physics, Bicycling, Tutor 100484 C Germ/France Fair Grn Blk Str 5ft 8in 132-LB Math, Piano 100486 C Dutch/British Med Brn LtBrn Str 5ft 6in 120-LB Law, History, Tennis 021285 A China/China Fair Brn Blk Str 5ft 6in 132-LB Science, Languages 082483 C England/German Fair Grn Blk Str 5ft 7in 122-LB Pre-Law,Ski,Dance 120484 B Afro/Afro Medium Brn Blk Wavy 5ft 6in 128-LB Med. Student, Tennis 030885 C Irish/Scottish Fair Grn Blnd Wavy 5ft 8in 128-LB Prelaw, Swimmer 100482 C Russian/Russian Med Blu Brn Wavy 5ft 7in 128-LB Science, Tennis

Egg Donation for Assisted Reproduction Donor eggs used in 13,183 (11.4%) of the 115,392 procedures involving ART in the U.S. in 2002. Women routinely paid $4,000-$5000 per cycle (in Canada and the UK only reasonable expenses can be paid). The ASRM estimates that egg donors spend “56 hours in the medical setting, undergoing interviews, counseling, and medical procedures related to the process.” Robert Steinbrook, M.D., “Egg Donation and Human Embryonic Stem-Cell Research,” New England Journal of Medicine 354:4 (January 26, 2006), 324-326.

Donor eggs used in 13,183 (11.4%) of the 115,392 procedures involving ART in the U.S. in 2002.

Women routinely paid $4,000-$5000 per cycle (in Canada and the UK only reasonable expenses can be paid).

The ASRM estimates that egg donors spend “56 hours in the medical setting, undergoing interviews, counseling, and medical procedures related to the process.”

Are There Any Risks?

Health Risks

The Procedure Stopping the normal cycle. Stimulating egg production through daily subcutaneous hormone injections for 7-10 days. Hot flashes, vaginal dryness, fatigue, sleep problems, body aches. Soreness, mood swings, tender breasts, enlarged ovaries, “ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome” (OHSS).

Stopping the normal cycle.

Stimulating egg production through daily subcutaneous hormone injections for 7-10 days.

Hot flashes, vaginal dryness, fatigue, sleep problems, body aches.

Soreness, mood swings, tender breasts, enlarged ovaries, “ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome” (OHSS).

Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome “ In mild OHSS, you may have abdominal pain, pressure and swelling. This should go away after your next period. In moderate OHSS, you may require careful monitoring, bed rest and pain medication. Severe OHSS is rare but can cause serious medical complications, including blood clots, kidney failure, fluid build-up in the lungs, and shock. In rare cases, hospitalization is necessary and the condition can be life-threatening. One or both ovaries may have to be removed.” -- New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, Thinking of Becoming and Egg Donor?

“ In mild OHSS, you may have abdominal pain, pressure and swelling. This should go away after your next period. In moderate OHSS, you may require careful monitoring, bed rest and pain medication. Severe OHSS is rare but can cause serious medical complications, including blood clots, kidney failure, fluid build-up in the lungs, and shock. In rare cases, hospitalization is necessary and the condition can be life-threatening. One or both ovaries may have to be removed.”

-- New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, Thinking of Becoming and Egg Donor?

Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome “ Very rarely, an enlarged ovary will twist on its stalk and cut off its blood supply. This painful condition requires immediate surgery and the ovary may have to be removed. Also, very rarely a woman has an allergic reaction to fertility drugs . . . The long-term risks of fertility drugs are unknown. A few studies suggest that fertility drugs might increase a woman’s risk for developing ovarian cancer later in life.”

“ Very rarely, an enlarged ovary will twist on its stalk and cut off its blood supply. This painful condition requires immediate surgery and the ovary may have to be removed. Also, very rarely a woman has an allergic reaction to fertility drugs . . . The long-term risks of fertility drugs are unknown. A few studies suggest that fertility drugs might increase a woman’s risk for developing ovarian cancer later in life.”

Needle Aspiration “ After the needle is inserted into the ovary, there may be bleeding. Although rare, it is possible to damage or puncture the bowel, bladder, or nearby blood vessels. In the unlikely possibility of severe internal bleeding or serious damage to the pelvic organs, major abdominal surgery may be needed. To prevent infection, you may be given antibiotics. If infection occurs, it may affect your own future fertility.” --Ibid.

“ After the needle is inserted into the ovary, there may be bleeding. Although rare, it is possible to damage or puncture the bowel, bladder, or nearby blood vessels. In the unlikely possibility of severe internal bleeding or serious damage to the pelvic organs, major abdominal surgery may be needed.

To prevent infection, you may be given antibiotics. If infection occurs, it may affect your own future fertility.”

--Ibid.

Social Risks

Commodification “ There exists some scale into which every value inhering in a good can be translated; . . . and this scale is money.” “ . . . Money is the superscale of value.” E. Richard Gold, Body Parts, p. 148.

Our Property

The language of science is increasingly permeated with the commercial language of supply and demand, contracts, exchange, and compensation. Body parts are extracted like a mineral, harvested like a crop, or mined like a resource. Tissue is procured —a term more commonly used for land, goods, and prostitutes. Cells, embryos, and tissue are frozen, banked, placed in libraries or repositories, marketed, patented, bought, or sold. Umbilical cords, whose stem cells are useful for therapeutic purposes, are described as a “hot clinical property.” Lori Andrews and Dorothy Nelkin, The Body Bazaar, p. 5-6.

“ Commodification worries may seem like a luxury. Yet, taking a slightly longer view, commodification threatens the personhood of everyone, not just those who can now afford to concern themselves about it.” Margaret Jane Radin, Contested Commodities, p. 125.

“ Commodification worries may seem like a luxury. Yet, taking a slightly longer view, commodification threatens the personhood of everyone, not just those who can now afford to concern themselves about it.”

Margaret Jane Radin, Contested Commodities, p. 125.

The market mania encourages actions that violate body integrity, exploit powerless people, intrude on community values, distort research agendas, and weaken public trust in scientists and clinicians. When commercial interests and the quest for profits are a driving force, questions of human safety and respect for the human sources of tissue—the person in the body—take second place. Lori Andrews and Dorothy Nelkin, Body Bazaar, p. 27.

◊ Ninety-six percent of participants sold their kidneys to pay off debts. ◊ The average amount received was $1070. Most of the money received was spent on debts, food, and clothing. ◊ Average family income declined by one third after nephrectomy, and the number of participants living below the poverty line increased. ◊ Three-fourths of participants were still in debt at the time of the survey. ◊ About 86% of participants reported a deterioration in their health status after nephrectomy. ◊ Seventy-nine percent would not recommend that others sell a kidney. Goyal, et al., “Economic and Health Consequences of Selling a Kidney in India,” Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002; 288: 1589-1593. Example of India & Kidney Donation

Embryonic Stem-Cell Research, Human Cloning, and “Industrial Egg Donation” Used 242 eggs to get one cell line in 2004. In 2005, averaged 17 eggs per cell line. Used eggs of female research assistants employed by the lab (a form of coercion). Hwang Woo Suk

Used 242 eggs to get one cell line in 2004. In 2005, averaged 17 eggs per cell line.

Used eggs of female research assistants employed by the lab (a form of coercion).

Using Donor Eggs and Cloning to Treat Diabetes 17 million diabetes patients in the U.S. alone. Need 10-100 eggs for patient, optimistically. Therefore, need 170 million-1.7 billion eggs. With just 10 eggs per donor, 29-170 million donors would be needed.

17 million diabetes patients in the U.S. alone.

Need 10-100 eggs for patient, optimistically.

Therefore, need 170 million-1.7 billion eggs.

With just 10 eggs per donor, 29-170 million donors would be needed.

Exploitation

Police probe clinic under suspicion of 'exploiting' egg donors KAREN MCVEIGH A GROWING cross-border trade in human embryos was threatened with closure last night after Romanian police launched an investigation into a clinic in Bucharest which sends mail-order eggs to British couples. Fertility groups and MEPs have raised concerns over the clinic, Globalart, as they believe that money paid to young Romanian women for their eggs represents a financial incentive which leaves them open to exploitation. There are currently between 30 and 50 couples in Britain who have undergone the treatment via a London clinic, the Bridge Centre. Globalart, in Bucharest, receives frozen sperm from clients outside Romania, which it uses to fertilise donor eggs. The resulting embryos are then sent back to the client. It has already been the subject of an investigation by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, after it noticed a rise in the number of export licence requests from Romania. After an investigation, it found that donors were being paid between £200 and £300. Police Probe Clinic Under Suspicion of ‘Exploiting’ Egg Donors Thu 10 Mar 2005

Concerns Adequate study of the health risks of egg extraction, including long-term risks. Medical costs for adverse effects caused by the procedure. True informed consent from women who provide eggs. Commercialization (commodification). Exploitation of poor women. No meaningful oversight.

Adequate study of the health risks of egg extraction, including long-term risks.

Medical costs for adverse effects caused by the procedure.

True informed consent from women who provide eggs.

Commercialization (commodification).

Exploitation of poor women.

No meaningful oversight.

Julia Derek

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OUR OVARIES! because losing even one woman's life is too high a price to pay Our message is simple and clear and it is our call to action. Biotechnological research and development often affects women more directly than men. In the case of human embryonic cloning, women's health and safety have already been affected—adversely. Sadly, there have been too many instances of coercion and deception, and violations of informed consent. Left uncontrolled, research demands will place undue burdens on young, poor women. We deserve a biotechnology that is not degrading and destructive to women's health. The ends do not justify these sorts of means. Read entire Manifesto and sign your name Join the mailing list. Buy the t-shirt. Tell others. www.handsofourovaries.com “ Because losing even one woman’s life is too high a price to pay.”