Egg donations build dream families, but systemic racism in the industry has hints of eugenics

When a person with a uterus decides to freeze their eggs, any number of things can go wrong. Ice crystal can form, killing an otherwise viable ovum. A fertilized egg may fail to properly implant, or the egg may not even get fertilized in the first place. When potential parents decide that one partner should freeze their eggs, they are urged not to make that decision lightly.

"There are clearly eugenic forces underlying how the supply and demand aspect of egg donation operates in the US and globally."

"Eggonomics: The Global Market in Human Eggs and the Donors Who Supply Them," a new book by University of Alabama anthropology associate professor Diane Tober, raises even more questions about egg donations — not just in terms of accidents here and there, but about systemic abuses like deceiving consumers and engaging in racial discrimination.

"This is the first comprehensive, mixed methods research done with egg donors in the U.S. and around the globe," Tober told Salon. Conducting research with over 300 interviewees spread across the United States, Spain and...