The Debate Rages ON! Anonymity and the business of buying babies - Letters - The Times (UK)

The debate is still raging in the UK on anonymity and payment of sperm/egg 'donors'. The Times (a paper from the UK) recently published letters by Dr Evan Harris, MP - House of Commons, Professor Brenda Almond - Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy, University of Hull, and former HFEA member and Louise Kirk from Buxton, Derbyshire.

SEE: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6732135.ece

To add to the debate, I would also like to highlight another VERY note worthy commentator who posted a response to Dr. Harris's opinion in the comments section. Her name is Christine Whipp, a donor conceived woman from the UK. Her comment is reposted below for consideration:

"Christine Whipp wrote:
Dr Evan Harris's assertion of a shortfall in the number of available gamete donors is entirely misleading. The number of women receiving donor assisted conception has grown steadily in this country year on year but supply is now being outstripped by demand as more and more single women and lesbians have opted for father-free motherhood and menopausal women have decided to conceive with a younger woman's child rather than miss the motherhood boat altogether.

Long before the possibility of removing donor anonymity had been seriously considered the easy availability of donor sperm had already dropped, owing to the need for sperm freezing (where samples are not all capable of surviving the thawing process) and the avoidance of potential donors who do not lead a monogamous heterosexual or celibate homosexual lifestyle. The emergence of AIDS has had a far more serious impact on donor sperm availability than insufficient remuneration or invaded privacy.

Now that evidence of the possible serious long term side effects of egg donation is becoming clearer, ethical and moral concerns for the welfare of those who undergo surgical procedures entirely for the benefit of a third party should dictate that such arrangements should be discouraged or even outlawed.

Professor Lisa Jardine has asked for debate, so perhaps it is time to consider who is actually gaining from the current reproductive rampage and who gets no tangible benefits, but is in danger of losing the most. Dr Harris needs to stop blaming the donor conceived children, who end up as the commodified product of the baby making business and look to the motives and behaviour of everyone else involved. Then he should consider if government endorsed baby farming can even be socially justified in an already overcrowded world. "

More:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6736561.ece

http://www.mirror.co.uk/life-style/sex-health/sex-and-relationships/2009...

http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2009/07/paid-egg-and-sperm-donati...