---

ACTIVITIES:

HandsOff Interns:


Our HandsOff Interns have begun working hard to promote public awareness of the risks to women of egg harvesting for cloning research. From left to right: Nicole Marchand, Ashley Silverthorn, YuriyTolstykh, and Fran Santiago. If you are interested in interning with us, please contact us at: everywoman@handsoffourovaries.com TOP

HandsOff in Washington, DC: On March 8th – International Women’s Day -- HandsOffOurOvaries served as co-sponsor of a congressional briefing on Capital Hill, educating law makers about the dangers of egg harvesting for cloning research. Co-chairs of the Congressional Women’s Caucus, Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), were the congressional co-sponsors for the briefing. The event was well attended by those across the political spectrum and the majority attendees stayed for the entire briefing.

The theme of the briefing, "Trading on the Female Body" was moderated by Jennifer Lahl, principal organizer of the event. HandsOff Chair, Diane Beeson, began by describing the egg extraction procedure, its short & long-term risks, and placed the issue in the context of previous deadly hormonal abuses (DES and HRT) and their damage to women's health.

Angela Hickey shared how her daughter, Jacqueline Rushton, died tragically from Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome at the age of only 32. All in attendance were riveted by Jaqueline’s incredibly sad, moving story.

HandsOff Vice Chair, Josephine Quintavalle presented the more encouraging information about the move toward natural cycle and minimal stimulation IVF in Europe. She also related how and why OHS threatens fertility.

Finally, HandsOff Advisory Board Member and developmental biologist, Stuart Newman, gave an enlightening account of the state of stem cell science, making it clear that the proposed uses of the eggs are unlikely to produce viable cures and do not justify the hazards to women involved in obtaining them. He pointed to recent work indicating that stem cells can also be obtained from male testes which, significantly, has not been accompanied by appeals to men's altruism to donate such cells.

Members of the press attended and there is no doubt we created a "buzz" on capital hill. Moving forward, HandsOff will continue to push for a moratorium on eggs for research and advocate for women's health and safety in this arena. TOP

NEWS SUMMARIES/LINKS:

The HandsOff Newsletter features articles concerning policies, controversies, and ethics relevant to egg harvesting for cloning research; this may include articles reporting medical information learned from the IVF industry. Similarly, articles concerning global egg trafficking in the IVF industry are relevant and may be included since the increased demand for eggs for research will likely build on these already ongoing global arrangements.

Human Egg Donations Surge But Some Question Whether Too Many Women Are In It For The Money: (AP) Human egg donation was a rarity not so long ago. But heightened demand for eggs — and rising compensation for donors — are prompting more young women to consider it. more at cbsnews.com TOP

Egg Harvesting a Risky Business, Group Warns: On International Women's Day, an advocacy group warned women Thursday about the health risks of egg (oocyte) harvesting for donation, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research and cloning. more at cnsnews.com TOP

Blood Clot Dangers: Both venous and arterial thrombosis (clots in the veins and arteries, including those of the brain) have been described in women after ovarian stimulation. A new report of 34 such cases in pregnant and non pregnant women found these conditions can occur even in the absence of overt ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Thrombosis frequently leads to permanent neurological damage and may be fatal. The cases analyzed in this article were drawn from published reports and tell us little about the rate of occurrence of such events since no central registry tracks or requires reporting of such adverse side effects of egg harvesting.

Girolami, Antonio, et al. "Arterial thrombosis in young women after ovarian stimulation: case report and review of the literature" Journal of Thrombosis Thrombolysis (DOI 10.1007/s11239-007-0009-9). TOP

ARTICLES:

Controversial Decision Allows Women to Donate Eggs to Science: The decision by British fertility regulators to pay women to donateeggs to medical research raises tricky questions about the ethics ofcompromising women's health in the pursuit of scientific stardom.

In a controversial twist to the international 'stem cell wars', womenin Britain can now donate their freshly harvested eggs to science,theoretically helping to further advances in techniques such astherapeutic cloning and stem cell research.

But what makes the decision unusual is that although they would not bepaid for this "altruistic donation," they would be eligible forexpenses of up to 370 euros ($490) -- a development which has promptedexperts to question not so much whether women should be free todonate, but whether scientists should be allowed to ask.

Boosting science

The ground-breaking announcement came from Britain's HumanFertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which said the movecould help stem cell researchers find a cure for heart problems,infertility, diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's -- and stressedthat the 'fee' was not a payment, but compensation.

"The Authority has decided that women will be allowed to donate theireggs to research, in conjunction with their own IVF treatment or as analtruistic donor," said Angela McNab, chief executive of the HFEA."Given that the medical risks for donating for research are no higherthan for treatment, we have concluded that it is not for us to removea woman's choice of how her donated eggs should be used."

The decision was welcomed in Britain, a world leader in stem cellresearch, where scientists have complained that a shortage of eggs andexcessive red tape are hampering progress.

"Women are capable of making their own minds up about whether or notthey donate their eggs for research. Society should respect theirautonomy," said Alison Murdoch, director of the Newcastle FertilityCenter at Life, which was awarded Britain's first license to beginrecruiting women donors who are not already having medical treatment.

"Body-shopping" and exploitation

But elsewhere, the scheme has come in for manifold criticism, withmany arguing that it renders women mere receptacles and paves the wayfor a growing commercialization of the human body.

Donna Dickenson one of Britain's leading experts on medical ethics,stresses a subsequent need for a set of legal protections for womenwho donate eggs.

"Some women do donate altruistically, and that's an important right,"she says on her website. "But just because someone has made a 'free'choice to engage in any activity doesn't mean the law has nothing tosay about it. We need strict regulation to protect them, if we decideto allow them to donate. And the same is true of everyone who may beaffected by 'body shopping' -- by the growing commercialization ofhuman tissue."

"(The decision) is highly problematic," agrees Member of the EuropeanParliament Hiltrud Breyer from the German Green Party. "My fear isthat it will open up an ethical floodgate, which will erode the basicprinciple of the non-commercialization of the human body. Women willbe reduced to the status of mere suppliers of raw materials."

An object of trade

Women need to be fully informed before they can make the decisionIn Germany, where the production of human embryonic stem cells isprohibited by the Embryo Protection Law, bio-ethics experts areworried that the HFEA's decision will result in hard-up women takingpart simply for the money, ignoring any potential risks.

"The idea that women can make up their own minds about donating showsa striking ignorance of social realities," says Breyer. "We alreadyknow there is a flourishing egg trade with Eastern Europe, where manywomen would see 370 euros as a lot of money."

Dirk Lanzerath, CEO of the German Reference Center for Ethics in theLife Sciences (DRZE), echoes her fears. "The example of the blackmarket organ trade shows us that financial motivation tends to open upmarkets, especially in developing countries."

The issue occupies a legal gray area, he points out, citing theConvention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, on Transplantation of Organs and Tissues of Human Origin, which states that "advertising theneed for, or availability of, organs or tissues, with a view tooffering or seeking financial gain or comparable advantage, shall beprohibited."

Health risks

But it is the physical risks which concern Sigrid Graumann, a formermember of the German Parliament's Enquete Commission Ethics and Law inModern Medicine. In the field of reproductive medicine, she says,women's welfare should always take first priority -- and the processof egg donation involves women taking hormones which can causecomplications such as ovarian hyper stimulation, future fertilityproblems and even kidney failure and death.

"If women undergo this treatment only in order to donate, the riskscannot even be justified as in their own interests," she points out.

Dirk Lanzerath is equally skeptical. "The procedure is in no waycomparable to giving blood or donating sperm," he says, "because itentails serious risks which are not acceptable in a non-therapeuticcontext."

MEP Peter Liese from Germany's Christian Democrats is convinced the UKmodel might even prove counter-productive by providing grist to themill of opponents of stem cell research.

"Generally, opinion is starkly divided on the issue of embryoprotection between the conservative Christian position and the'liberal' position," he says. "But there is a broad consensus that weneed to be very careful with egg donation. Were wide-scale therapeuticcloning to occur, hundreds of thousands of women a year would have tobe donating eggs at considerable risk. This alone is a valid argumentfor a restrictive approach to stem cell research."

"It is outrageous of the HFEA to suggest that the scientific benefitsoutweigh the risks of paid egg donation," concurrs Hiltrud Breyer."Science simply does not have the right to gamble with women's healthin the name of this supposed cure-all, especially when its allegedbenefits for mankind are based on utterly exaggerated and unrealisticpromises." TOP

NU Professor Says Egg Donors Should Not Be Compensated: NU Professor Says Egg Donors Should Not Be CompensatedPosted: 2/13/07, By Erin Dostal, The Daily Northwestern

In the debate about whether women should be paid for the donations oftheir eggs to stem cell research, a Feinberg professor says egg donationis an altruistic act and thus should not require payment.

As one of the authors of recent guidelines for the International Societyfor Stem Cell Research, bioethics and medical humanities Prof. LaurieZoloth said payment for egg donation was ethically questionable.

"Donation of body parts is a priceless act," Zoloth said. "It seems tome that it's morally inconsistent to set a price on them."

Her views conflicted with colleagues, and the guidelines were ultimatelyleft open when they were published Feb. 2 in the journal of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science.

Some others propose offering women thousands of dollars for eggdonation. But Zoloth said she fears large payments could influencelow-income women to donate without considering the medical risks andmoral implications of their actions.

"I think calling it 'donation' would imply that it is a freely givengift," Zoloth said. "If they're going to talk about payment, they needto think about calling it an exchange."

Payment for participation in clinical scientific research is commonpractice. Payment for donation of body parts, such as blood, bone marrowor organs is not, she said.

Insoo Hyun, a member of the society's International Human Embryonic StemCell Guidelines Task Force, said he strongly favors payment because hebelieves it is the "fair" thing to do.

The relevant argument, according to Hyun, is whether egg donation forstem cell research is considered clinical or therapeutic. Egg donationwould be considered therapeutic if it directly benefited a specificpatient, giving the donation an altruistic component, Hyun said. Butbecause stem cell research is still in early laboratory stages, Hyunsaid he sees donation as participation in a clinical study.

"Organ donation is normally thought to be best done altruisticallybecause there's a clear therapeutic benefit," Hyun said. "Egg donationfor stem cell research is not for therapeutic benefit. We're not thereyet."Egg donation is related "much more closely to the moral gesture ofdonating body parts" because the eggs are used for the sole purpose ofcreating embryos, Zoloth said. She said that because egg donation issimilar to blood or bone marrow donation, it should not be compensated.

Hyun said more women would probably be willing to donate if compensationwas provided, given that women spend about 40 hours completing the fulldonation process.

To harvest eggs, women undergo weeks of hormone injections to stimulateegg production. Donation involves a minor surgical procedure, as well asgeneral or local anesthetic.

Today in the United States, no women receive payment for egg donationbeyond direct expenses, such as parking and medical fees. Women are notpaid for their time off work or for the eggs themselves.

"I think the model to look at this entire issue is from the standpointof how should we treat healthy volunteers for basic research, not howshould we treat people who donate organs for transplantation," Hyunsaid. TOP