Big business of assisted reproduction raises myriad legal issues

Published: 2005-09-19

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At Fairfax Cryobank in Fairfax, Va., $450 can buy you sperm guaranteed to be from a donor who has earned or is studying for a doctorate. The price of the other essential ingredient to make a baby is more dear, judging from the Web site of Egg Donation Inc. in Encino, Calif. "An egg donor's fee can range from $5,000 to $15,000," the Web site says. "Additional compensation is offered to those donors who have earned a postgraduate degree; have a unique skill, characteristic or trait; or if she has previously (donated eggs) with our program and her couple achieved a pregnancy." But not every "order" for eggs can be easily filled. "Asian and Jewish donors are always in demand as are tall, attractive donors with a master's or doctorate degree," the Egg Donation Inc. Web site says. As assisted reproduction becomes more and more a high-finance commercial enterprise, taking in an estimated $2 billion annually, the legal questions surrounding parentage have become more and more complicated. "The most astonishing thing about the law in this area is that, even on questions like who's your parent, the laws are absent or haphazardly developed," said Helen Alvare, an associate professor at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

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