France Winddance Twine discusses in Outsourcing the Womb that many people have turned to overseas
surrogacy. Twine points out that many
poor and uneducated women have no choice but to become surrogate mothers. Twine
also briefly mentions sperm and egg donor qualifications and regulations in the
U.S and in chapter 4, she states that commercial egg and sperm markets choose
applicants based on their physical and social characteristics. (Twine 33) Kindle
version
In the United States, which is a
relatively unregulated market, the fees that egg donors are paid vary according
to their experience and their level of education, with first-time egg donors
earning the least ($ 4,000) and experienced and well-educated egg donors
earning substantially more ($ 6,000) (Twine 32).
Twine makes it clear that overseas surrogate mothers are
forced into surrogacy because of their lack of income and remarkably, this
seems to be the opposite for egg and sperm donors. She also points out that
only the economically privileged can afford fertility treatments. (Twine 8)
Surprisingly, eligible sperm and egg donors are also part of the economically
privileged. There appears to be an effort to eliminate undesirable traits.
These traits include homosexuality and unintelligence.
The requirements needed to become a sperm and egg donor are
extensive and do not apply to most. Sperm and egg donors are required to have a
certain height and weight, good health, higher education, and opposite sex
partners.
In 2005, the FDA released guidelines that discouraged
homosexual men from donating sperm.
The Guidance for Industry: Eligibility Determination for
Donors of Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products states:
List[s] of conditions and behaviors
that increase the donor’s relevant communicable disease risk. Except as noted
in this section, and in accordance with § 1271.75(d), you should determine to
be ineligible any potential donor who exhibits one or more of the following
conditions or behaviors.
1. Men who
have had sex with another man in the preceding 5 years (Refs. 17 through 46)
(risk factor for HIV and Hepatitis B).
According to the FDA, this provision is an effort to protect
mothers from contracting HIV. Many sperm banks follow the FDA regulation even
though they are not mandatory. It’s
surprising that these regulations are being followed despite the procedures
sperm banks take to ensure that sperm is free of infectious disease. Once sperm
is donated it is tested for sexually transmitted diseases, frozen for at least
6 months and then tested again for STDs. Since 2005, many gay-right’s activists
have pointed out that this provision is not based on any really scientific
evidence and instead are based on bigotry.
Education was the other requirement that stood out. Usually
egg and sperm donors are required to have some form of higher education. In the
1980s, Robert K. Graham, a businessman
known for inventing shatterproof eyeglasses, started Repository for Germinal
Choice, a sperm bank that chose its donors based on intellectual achievement. Aside
from intellectual competence, good looks, height, weight, and good genetic
history have always been requirements for sperm donors.
These requirements exclude
traits that are seen undesirable by sperm banks. These qualifications are reminiscent
of eugenics. Only people who have these desirable traits are selected to
reproduce. By demanding higher education
and heterosexuality in applicants, unintelligence and homosexuality are marked
as undesirable. Additionally, those who cannot afford a college education are
often minorities and part of the working class. These groups are also excluded.
Various questions such as:
What about the rest of us? Are
we worthless without these characteristics? Are we worthy of reproducing?Do I qualify as an egg donor? According to these qualifications, no one in
my family, my self-included, would be eligible because we have traits that are
undesirable.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4655231
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