Donors should be offered payment, says IVF expert

IVF specialist John McBain has re-entered the debate about boosting egg donor numbers, suggesting women who give their eggs to infertile couples should be offered payment for their time and trouble.

Dr McBain, a director of Melbourne IVF, was howled down in 2002 when he was quoted suggesting that couples ought to be able to pay $10,000 to buy another woman's eggs — a practice banned in Australia.

He now says women should not be paid for their eggs, but should be entitled to financial compensation for the "service" of donating them.

At present, egg donors may be paid for their medical costs (about $3500) and other reasonable costs, such as travel expenses, but they may not be given any additional payments or inducements.

Dr McBain said it was anomalous that a couple could buy an egg in California but then face no penalty when they returned home with a pregnancy.

"I think it's a pity that there are so relatively few egg donors in Australia because they don't have the same incentive (as women overseas who are paid for their eggs)," he said, stressing that this was a personal view.

In 2004 in Victoria, 230 women donated eggs to someone they knew, but only 31 offered them to strangers.

Gab Kovacs, medical director of Monash IVF, said he was totally opposed to payment for eggs but suggested another way to meet growing demand might be egg-sharing.

In Britain, under a process approved by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, a woman undergoing IVF may receive a financial contribution to the costs of her own treatment if she agrees to give away half her eggs to an infertile couple.

"I would have less problem with that than selling eggs," Professor Kovacs said. "I think it's something we could look at where someone who donates their eggs gets some sort of discount."

Louise Johnson, chief executive officer of the Infertility Treatment Authority, said egg-sharing could not be approved without a change to the law and the practice would need very careful consideration.

Ethical issues might arise if the couple that donated the eggs were unable to achieve a pregnancy but the woman who received them succeeded, she said. "If the Government changed the law, the authority would need to consider all the legal, ethical and social issues, including the potential for women to be exploited."

Ms Johnson said there was no provision under the law at present for egg donors to be paid for their time and trouble.

The state's infertility laws are being reviewed by the Victorian Law Reform Commission.