Virginia Postrel urges us to tell the truth about egg donors:
Unlike adopting a child or using a surrogate, however, using an egg donor means you get pregnant and bear the child yourself. And that means you can pretend no donor was involved, which is exactly what a lot of people do....
As long as people think egg donation is a freaky, unimportant activity, laws like [Canada's, which prohibits compensation other than for documented expenses] are all too easy to pass. The conspiracy of silence makes egg donation look much rarer--and far more shameful--than it actually is..... People like all these babies; society has certainly adapted to their births, with minimum dirsuption. But egg donation still sounds strange, because too many mothers and fathers pretend it isn't happening.
If we're to "tell the truth about egg donation," we should start by calling it what it is: trafficking in human genetic material. In the U. S., eggs are not usually donated; they are bought, and they are sold. Calling the payments "fees" or "compensation" doesn't change that one bit.
I'm surprised that Postrel missed this rather obvious point.
Comments