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One received a car, another money for college tuition, others cold, hard cash.
Most Canadian women who donate eggs for fertility treatment receive payment above their expenses – even though providing such fees violates the country’s controversial fertility law, suggests a new study.
The survey of “intended parents” and egg donors who meet on the Internet – originally scheduled to be presented at a major fertility-medicine conference next month – found the majority of donations involved bonuses worth thousands of dollars.
The findings underscore anecdotal evidence that the law designed to prevent commercialization of egg and sperm donation and surrogacy motherhood is routinely ignored.
But the individuals interviewed for the study expressed no qualms about doing so, said Cambridge University researcher Kathleen Hammond.
“The intended parents in particular – those that did pay – were fine with breaking the law, because they felt the donor had done this enormous thing for them and given up a lot of time and it was only fair,” she said. “They were always very willing.”
Hammond, an Ottawa native obtaining her doctorate...