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About Egg Retrieval


Scientists working to perfect research cloning require large numbers of women's eggs for their efforts. Egg retrieval is invasive, time-consuming, uncomfortable, and—most important—puts women at risk of significant adverse reactions.

In order to procure eggs, researchers give women hormonal drugs to first "shut down" and then "hyperstimulate" their ovaries to produce more eggs than normal. These eggs are then surgically extracted.

Egg retrieval for assisted reproduction has been conducted for several decades, but there is inadequate data on its risks. Follow-up studies on long-term risks are particularly lacking; those that do exist are inconclusive.

Short-term reactions to one commonly used "shut-down" drug include severe joint pain, difficulty breathing, chest pain, depression, amnesia, hypertension, and asthma. The drugs used to stimulate multiple egg production can cause ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHHS), which is often a mild reaction but which can become serious enough to require hospitalization and, rarely, to cause death.

Some women's health advocates and others have questioned whether researchers should ask women to expose themselves to these risks, especially in light of the early and speculative stage of cloning research. Controversy has also emerged about whether paying women to provide eggs for research would tempt economically vulnerable women to take risks they otherwise would avoid.



Hwang Tries for a Comebackby Pete ShanksBiopolitical TimesFebruary 5th, 2010Hwang Woo-Suk is making active efforts to salvage his reputation, and to reestablish himself as a force in science.
Beauty, Brains, and Eggs [Video][Quotes CGS's Marcy Darnovsky]KCETDecember 18th, 2009Los Angeles's public television station examines the big and mostly unregulated business of egg donation.
UK Feminist Campaign: No2Eggsploitationby Marcy DarnovskyBiopolitical TimesDecember 15th, 2009The UK's fertility watchdog agency is considering revoking the rule that limits payments to women who provide eggs for other people's IVF treatment. A network of British feminists objects.
Is it right to pay women for their eggs?by Clare MurphyBBC NewsDecember 9th, 2009The UK fertility regulator is considering offering more generous compensation to egg and sperm donors
For Sale: Human Eggs Become a Research Commodityby Katherine HarmonScientific AmericanOctober 31st, 2009A decision to pay for eggs for stem cell studies sparks debate.
Hwang is Convictedby Pete ShanksBiopolitical TimesOctober 27th, 2009Hwang Woo-Suk, the notorious Korean stem-cell and cloning researcher, was given a suspended two-year prison sentence and three years of probation by a Seoul court on Monday.
Women's egg freezing gets boost New ScientistOctober 21st, 2009Egg freezing looks increasingly promising as an insurance policy for women who need or want to delay having children, according to the first systematic monitoring of the procedure.
California warning labels: "Donating" eggs may be hazardous to your healthby Marcy DarnovskyBiopolitical TimesOctober 13th, 2009A new first-in-the-nation law will require that ads recruiting women to provide their eggs mention the health risks entailed.
Google Babyby Marcy DarnovskyBiopolitical TimesOctober 9th, 2009An Israeli documentary offers an excruciatingly up-close look at India's booming global surrogacy industry.
Good science and good ethics [PDF][Quotes CGS's Jesse Reynolds]by Donna DickensonNature Reviews GeneticsOctober 7th, 2009Why we should discourage payment for eggs for stem cell research
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