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With its row of nubile women, the eye-catching ad on CTA buses and trains could easily be mistaken for promoting an upscale dating Web site.
While the Chicago-based agency--ConceiveAbilities--is certainly in the matchmaking business, it doesn't charge a fee. In fact, this company will pay you--$7,000 to be exact--providing you're no older than 30, in excellent health and can spare a couple dozen artificially ripened eggs.
Heather Scoma, 30, a graduate student in Milwaukee who donated eggs last year to help a couple conceive, found the process time consuming, but she also found meaning in helping others--and the money helped pay off a debt.
In the mid-1990s, the egg donation industry was in its infancy--and if mentioned at all, it would be in whispers. Now, the number of annual attempts at fertilization from donated eggs has tripled in a decade and some agencies find they have more donors than recipients. Ethical questions are also being raised as the business increasingly is commercialized and recruiters and donors cash in.
Demand for eggs continues to rise, driven strongly by older women, as...