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Back in college, the popular way to make beer money was to sell your plasma. It was so popular that the student handbook listed the plasma center along with a few local dry cleaner recommendations and coupons to a sandwich shop. I'm not sure what the going rate was back in 1992, but a quick search online yielded that the going rate for plasma is about $70/week (two donations a week at $35 each).
What made me think of this today? Because I read an argument against compensating egg donors stating that no other donated body part or product receives financial compensation. And that's just not true, there's plasma. In fact, it is legal in America to be financially compensated for cells, though you cannot be compensated for organs.
FoxNews reported back in November that plasma donations were up as first time donors stepped up to earn gas and grocery money by selling their blood product, which brings us to Salon's article this week on Broadsheet discussing the increase in egg donors and the ethics of paid donations. Quoting a recent Boston Herald article and the constant discussions around the Internet on this topic from the Wall Street Journal to the Washington Post, the post begins: "In these stark economic times, what's a gal to do when the creditors have the phone ringing off the hook or when her boss shovels her onto the fast-growing pile of the nation's unemployed? For an increasing number of women, it means considering selling their eggs for anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000."
Donations are, by their very definition, gifts without compensation. I fully agree with anyone who argues that donors who receive compensation are not donors by definition; though I also argue that donor is an antiquated word that no longer holds meaning in our society. Political donors give money with gain both tangible and intangible in mind from access to positions within an administration to simply having your desired party in place when policy is being decided. Philanthropic donors gets a building named after them after they cough up a ten million dollar check. It's not that there aren't people out there doing something for nothing, but most people want recognition of their gift, if not financial compensation.
If it helps, we can rename egg donors "egg suppliers" instead.
Tracy Clark-Flory did a fantastic job on the Salon piece pointing out that donors who are solely financially-driven usually do not make it through the rigorous screening process required of all potential donors (though returns with an alarmist final thought on financial desperation). Those who donate solely to make money with no regard to the enormity of the task on hand--emotionally or physically (for themselves, their recipient, and any children born of their gametes)--are generally left disappointed with a rejection slip. Over 90% of wannabe donors do not make it to that first lupron needle.
But what about the yuckiness of feeling like life is being bought or sold? Frankly, there is plenty of yuckiness in the world that we'll need to discuss in addition to this topic such as the fact that our medical system is a for-profit system, benefiting off the health woes of society. That our pharmaceutical companies do not make drugs out of the goodness of their hearts, but to turn a profit. Our medical system in and off itself is not noble. It's goal is not to keep society well, but to keep society well while turning a profit.
Every child has a price tag regardless of how that child comes into your family. It may be as low as a handful of co-payments or it may stretch into the tens of thousands depending on how much assistance you needed with family building. But in all circumstances, what you are paying for is a service, not a child, and those who state otherwise to make their argument do so to be inflammatory and insulting.
But what about the fear that women are being exploited? I think it demeans the intelligence of women and our ability to make choices. If I need money, there are a multitude of ways I can make money beyond going through rigorous testing, daily injections, and painful surgical procedures (aaah, who am I kidding? No one would pay for my eggs). It is certainly not a quick buck. If a woman chooses to be
