Swelling, bleeding and even death – women who donate their eggs face many medical risks

Last year, shortly after she had donated her eggs for the eighth time since 2009, Shabana Memon* resolved never to undergo the procedure again. “The swelling began after I took the injection for donating eggs at a clinic in Thane,” said 31-year-old Memon, who lives in the Mumbai neighbourhood of Wadala. The infertility clinic paid Memon Rs 28,000 to undergo the procedure and retrieve her eggs. The clinic told her that she had developed an allergy and gave her a course of medicines free of cost. They asserted that the swelling was not related to the procedure. But her condition did not improve. Memon went to another clinic in her neighbourhood and spent Rs 10,000 on treatment.

In April 2018, she visited a clinic in South Mumbai to donate her eggs again, even though the doctor discouraged her from doing so. But she needed the money. Her husband, a zari worker, had been diagnosed with tongue cancer earlier this year. She has three children aged 12,11 and four. “I have five mouths to feed and that can’t be done with...