We at clinic Hausken say YES to egg donation! If society accepts sperm donation we must also say yes to egg donation. I can't see any principled difference between this. If one believes that egg donation is something other than sperm donation, it means that the father is not as important as the mother.
What's the problem? It is argued that it is much easier to give sperm than eggs. That's not true. What's hard about donating is the up-front process. Deciding if you want to donate to help others. Think through what consequences this has for the couple who receives, the child who is born, themselves and their surroundings. Future consequences in a possible meeting with the child when/if this makes contact. How to deal with this with your own family and children? These basic value choices will be the same for a man as one for a woman.
Yes the woman has to go through a hormone cure, Yes she has to go through an egg withdrawal. So what? This is a simple standardized process and is nothing set up against the difficult choice of choosing to donate your own eggs/sperm to help other couples.
What IS difficult is to create a sensible plan for implementation. Who should be offered egg donation? It is primarily women who have reached an age where egg quality is good who need egg donation. What age limit should we set? Do we not have to accept that the biological clock has set its foot down? Egg donation differs here from sperm donation and challenges our ethical norms. Sperm donation is an option for men who have very reduced and or no sperm production. This is often detected early and therefore you do not arrive at the same age as egg donation.
Couples who opt for egg donation today travel abroad and receive treatment. They usually go through a long process before making such a choice. Years of investigations and assisted fertilization, hopes and disappointments. The choice has matured over time and is, to the highest extent, well thought out. The expectant parents have made a reflected choice and have a lot of love to give. Norway may choose to ban egg donation, but the offer/activity does not disappear for that! It would be much better for Norway to say YES and thus have an influence on the regulation of this activity. Make an egg donation offer with non anonymous donor that society can accept and seem sensible.
Egg donation is in many ways better than sperm donation for the couple! The woman gets the pregnancy and the birth and the father is the biological father, at the same time the woman influences which genes are expressed during pregnancy and thus also has a genetic relationship with the child. In sperm donation, the woman gets all this but here the man stands a little by the side and is “also” not genetically involved.
The debate rages. In its setting, the Biotechnology Council has recommended YES to egg donation. That does not mean that the proposal will be adopted. You can say whatever you want and there are arguments both for and against. BUT, that the vast majority of countries accept egg donation on an equal basis to sperm donation. That does not mean that the proposal will be adopted. You can say whatever you want and there are arguments both for and against. BUT, that the vast majority of countries accept egg donation on an equal footing with sperm donation must weigh heavily. We welcome egg donation and believe this will be a good solution for both couples but not least important; the children.
Spesialist i gynekologi og obstetrikk.
