Stem cells 'to boost' risky egg trade
Anna Salleh
ABC Science Online
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Poor women are already selling their eggs to pay the rent, new
research shows. Now the added demand for eggs for stem cell research
may place extra pressure on them (Image: iStockphoto)
Demand for eggs for stem cell research will put vulnerable women at
increased pressure to sell their ova to unscrupulous dealers, says an
Australian researcher.
This may not be such an issue for well regulated countries like
Australia, says Associate Professor Catherine Waldby of the
University of Sydney.
But she says it is more likely to affect women in poorly regulated
countries, who already supply eggs to rich nations for IVF programs,
and whose health can suffer as a result.
"There have been various serious medical problems develop in women
involved in selling eggs," says Waldby.
Her findings will be published in the journal New Genetics and
Society.
Waldby, a sociologist of life sciences, says she is concerned about
the effect of stem cell research on an already stretched global
supply of women's eggs.
She is concerned about the implication of obtaining eggs for
therapeutic cloning, which are already in short supply because of the
popularity of IVF.
Therapeutic cloning involves removing the nucleus from an egg and
replacing it with one from a non-reproductive cell, of a patient for
example, to produce an embryo for stem cell research.
She says in countries like Australia, where women are not permitted
to sell their eggs on the open market, the onerous nature of
procuring eggs means that donation is rare and demand is outstripping
supply.
Egg brokers
Waldby says growth in IVF together with cheap air travel have led to
the development of clinics that trade eggs beyond the borders of
national regulation, often selling eggs from poor nations to rich
ones.
"They actually function as brokers between people in countries where
they can't get ova and where it's very regulated, and countries where
it's not," she says.
Waldby says in recent years there has been trafficking of ova from
women in Eastern Europe.
One Romanian clinic has bought eggs from really poor women, she says.
"The clinic was paying them about US$200 a procedure, which is about
two months' salary for these women."
The supply of eggs to create human embryonic stem cells, like this,
is concerning some researchers (Image: M William Lensch, Harvard
Medical School)
One study found some women were repeatedly selling their eggs to pay
for rent, clothes and even cigarettes, says Waldby.
In 2004, UK authorities banned the purchase of eggs from the clinic.
There were concerns the clinic was not telling women about the risks
involved, or looking after them when things went wrong, Waldby says.
Removing eggs involves multiple hormone injections and a surgical
procedure.
Some of the Romanian women developed ovarian hyperstimulation
syndrome, which involves painful abdominal inflammation, possible
renal failure, infertility and cardiovascular problems, says Waldby.
She says there are a lot of countries where this could be a problem.
"Both China and India have large, impoverished populations, extensive
networks of fertility clinics and burgeoning stem cell industries,
setting the scene for exploitative forms of oocyte procurement.
Unlike Australia and the UK, the US allows women to sell their eggs
on the open market. Women with desirable characteristics can get up
to U$100,000 per cycle from IVF clinics for their eggs, says Waldby.
But eggs for research don't command such high premiums because they
depend less on characteristics, she says.
She says at least one US company has been set up specifically to
procure eggs for the biotechnology industry, paying women around
US$4000 per "donation".
This is despite a US National Academy of Sciences recommendation
against the use of purchased eggs for research.
Waldby says there should be international laws that prohibit
scientists from using any cell lines derived from eggs procured in
the absence of ethical guidelines and oversight.
Scientific response
Australian stem cell researcher Professor Bernie Tuch, of the Prince
of Wales Hospital in Sydney, says donating eggs is difficult and
risky and it would be a pity if Waldby's predictions were right.
But he emphasises Australian law prevents trading in human eggs.
"[Waldby's concerns are] of no direct relevance to Australia," he
says.
He also says National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines
require imported embryonic stem cell lines to be developed under the
same conditions that apply in Australia.
http://abc.net.
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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