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Feb 22, 2007 1:03 pm US/Eastern
Britain To Allow Paid Egg Donations For Research
LONDON (AP) ―
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Human eggs for stem cell research are in short supply, and some researchers believe payment would improve that situation. (File)
The British government has approved a plan to allow women to donate eggs for stem cell and cloning research and to be compensated for it -- an action that scientists hope will improve the supply of eggs.
Women getting costly fertility treatments will receive a discount if they donate eggs for research, authorities said. Others will receive up to 250 pounds -- about $500 -- for each fertilization cycle to cover costs such as travel or lost work time.
The eggs would be used to create cloned embryos, with the hope of extracting stem cells. Because stem cells have the potential to become any cell in the body, scientists believe they may ultimately help treat numerous ailments, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injuries.
The United States and some other countries already allow human egg donations for research. The U.S. has no national policy on payment, but some states limit it to reimbursing women for costs.
Human eggs for stem cell research are in short supply, and some researchers believe payment would improve that situation. They argue that patients are often paid for other medical experiments.
However, Wednesday's action by the British government worries some that it will exploit poor women, encouraging them to go through the tedious egg donor process just for money.
"It's exploitative because there will be women attracted even by the thought of getting 250 pounds from this," said Dr. Stephen Minger, director of the Stem Cell Laboratory at King's College. London. "I'm very uncomfortable with the idea of selling tissue and body parts."
Other experts accused authorities of downplaying the little-known health risks to potential egg donors.
But the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, which advised the government, stressed that payment would strictly cover expenses only.
"No one would be handing out money for donated eggs," said Gemma Wilkie, a spokeswoman for the authority. "We are only talking about recompense for costs incurred."
Britain has long permitted a practice known as egg-sharing, in which women get cheaper in-vitro fertilization treatments for donating eggs to other women hoping to get pregnant -- but until Wednesday's decision, donated eggs could not be used for research.
Some experts argued that women should be entitled to more than $500.
"Eggs are already a highly prized commodity," said Anna Smajdor, a medical ethics researcher at London's Imperial College. "Two-hundred fifty pounds fails on all counts: it is enough to entice women from poorer countries while failing to represent the market value of eggs."
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