Like many commenters, the eugenics freaks me out. At college, there were plenty of ads looking for Ivy League genes. I'm certain if some of these couples met me, they would think I was a nice or successful person. But because I was a few inches too short, they would never think of buying my eggs (nevermind that I am nearsighted and not blonde).
I'm so torn about an issue like this. On the one hand, I truly value every individual's right to privacy and to make her own decisions, especially when it comes to what to do with her body. I respect and support women's rights to donate and receive eggs, fertility treatments, etc.
On the other hand, it pisses me off something fierce that there are so very many unwanted children in the world who already exist, so why on earth can't these women/couples take all their time, effort, and money out of contributing to the population problem and instead put it where it's truly needed?
The judgmentz - I haz them, but I doez not want them =(
I got an ad yesterday on facebook for 100k for my eggs. Holy moly. I assumed it was bogus.
In terms of the more reasonable payments of 1700, that would not be worth it to me to chance life being like an episode of "House" and the half-sibs falling in love.
Is the process of donating similar to the experience of those with something like PCOS going through fertility treatment? Cause if it is I might have to just go straight for the adoption option...
I would almost consider doing this for the money, but I don't know if anyone would want my eggs considering the history of cancer and general mental craziness in my family.
And those unanswered questions would bug the shit out of me too.
I'll be honest - I was contemplating doing this solely for the money. But the application process for some donor locations are pretty extensive and the demands were....well, let's just say I didn't fit ANY of their long requirements. I think the donor requirements are different for each location (they seemed to be when I was looking around). Needless to say I decided to scrap that idea. If I was "accepted" to give up an egg, I am not sure if I would have had the balls to go through it though.....
Don't you also have to take a LOT of really exotic hormones and chemicals if you're going to donate eggs? I can see why ANYONE would be kinda miserable after that.
On one hand, though: thousands of dollars! On the other hand: I'm a myopic redhead, built like a brick shithouse, with godawful teeth and genetic propensity toward bunions and scoliosis, not a brilliant slim blue-eyed blonde nuclear physicist/ballerina. No one wants these eggs, yo.
@tscheese: I think I stopped looking when I saw one of the applications ask about mental disorders - yeah....no one wants an egg from a donor with any type of depression/anxiety/bipolar disorder.
I think 2/3rds of women in this study are lying. Or at least exaggerating. No booze, no sex, unpleasant physical side effects and all you get is $1,700? If I wasn't getting a baby at the end of all that I would be far less than 100% positive.
They always had ads for this in our college newspaper. If I recall, some of them also required specific physical characteristics. It freaked me out.
Plus it made me that much more aware that my brunette, mutt features were nowhere near the desired "tall, blonde, blue-eyed, attractive" ladies they wanted. Isn't that always the way?
@bah humbug (sammyboombaladdy) wishes you all happieness and...: Yeah I guess. I do think it is somewhat more reasonable if couples are looking to find an egg donor with similar characteristics to the mother of the future child. I know an infertile Chinese-White couple that are currently looking for Chinese donors so that the child can perhaps end up looking similar to the way a child conceived by the parents would appear. I think it is WAY creepier that people with a lot of money decide to pay 40k for their kid to have blonde hair/blue eyes/intelligence when they themselevs might be far from that; to me, that is placing higher value on those traits and it is no longer about just creating a family.
@LaFemme: I totally understand your point. It really is just playing odds though. I would be inclined to find a donor that had mediterranean, as opposed to scandinavian, qualities if I was in the market, but the very specific kind - like they were call sheets for a modeling gig - totally weirded me out. Also - requesting the donor be "pre-med or majoring in the biological sciences or engineering."
@LaFemme: "decide to pay 40k for their kid to have blonde hair/blue eyes/intelligence"
And what do they do when the kid isn't born with the desired parental characteristics? My parents are tall brunettes who both wear glasses. I'm 5'2" with red hair out of nowhere and perfect vision. All my siblings (I have three) are tall brunettes with glasses.
If they contracted for my sister and ended up with me, are they going to sue? (And can I sue God? Because she's like 9 freaking inches taller than me.)
@Eyebrows McGee: As someone who has filed a complaint against God many times, I strongly reccomend that you don't. He always wins. I don't know how he does it, he doesn't even have a laywer. :)
@Eyebrows McGee: "And what do they do when the kid isn't born with the desired parental characteristics?"
I have no idea. Hopefully "blame" themselves, 50% of the genetic equation. And maybe be real sticklers about the donor's genetic background (that they have the desired characteristics as dominant traits on both sides of the family) to increase the likelihood of their child inheriting the same characteristics.
I am not sure, I dont know anyone who is looking to design a "perfect" child.
If it didn't require all the crazy fertility drugs and the huge chance that I'd get preggo by having sex with my BF, I'd do it! $10,000 would save my life O_o
@Oranges w/ Cheese: You only get $10,000+ per egg if you're selling to people into eugenics.
We used to get these ads in the student papers at ND and Duke, and it used to piss the hell out of me that despite my SAT scores well above their threshholds and my GPA well above their threshhold and my extracurrics and resume and all that jazz, I wasn't TALL enough to give them their perfect Aryan baby. Not that I would donate eggs to people like that (or at all, probably, as I'm not a fan of pain, but definitely not to people like that), but it just made me SO. IRATE. You can't control everything about your child, you can't even guarantee their genetics by picking the "right" sort of genetic donor (I'm considerably shorter than both my parents, and all my siblings are very tall; I'm also the only person in my entire extended family in living memory with red hair).
I feel like it's an early symptom of parents who are living out THEIR problems and fantasies through their child, and no matter what this kid does, it's never going to be good enough. Because GOD KNOWS nobody's genetic material was good enough to CREATE the kid in the first place ....
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On the other hand, it pisses me off something fierce that there are so very many unwanted children in the world who already exist, so why on earth can't these women/couples take all their time, effort, and money out of contributing to the population problem and instead put it where it's truly needed?
The judgmentz - I haz them, but I doez not want them =(
12/31/08
I'm on to you, Jezebel. This is just the overflow from OMG NIPPLE UTERUS DAY!11 yesterday, isn't it? I'm on to you.
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In terms of the more reasonable payments of 1700, that would not be worth it to me to chance life being like an episode of "House" and the half-sibs falling in love.
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And those unanswered questions would bug the shit out of me too.
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On one hand, though: thousands of dollars! On the other hand: I'm a myopic redhead, built like a brick shithouse, with godawful teeth and genetic propensity toward bunions and scoliosis, not a brilliant slim blue-eyed blonde nuclear physicist/ballerina. No one wants these eggs, yo.
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Culinary science.
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Plus it made me that much more aware that my brunette, mutt features were nowhere near the desired "tall, blonde, blue-eyed, attractive" ladies they wanted. Isn't that always the way?
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My aunt is Cuban, very dark, and had the twins at 40ish. Also, my uncle borrowed 30k off of my grandmother. HMMMMM.
Also, the twins are smarter than either parent.
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And what do they do when the kid isn't born with the desired parental characteristics? My parents are tall brunettes who both wear glasses. I'm 5'2" with red hair out of nowhere and perfect vision. All my siblings (I have three) are tall brunettes with glasses.
If they contracted for my sister and ended up with me, are they going to sue? (And can I sue God? Because she's like 9 freaking inches taller than me.)
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I have no idea. Hopefully "blame" themselves, 50% of the genetic equation. And maybe be real sticklers about the donor's genetic background (that they have the desired characteristics as dominant traits on both sides of the family) to increase the likelihood of their child inheriting the same characteristics.
I am not sure, I dont know anyone who is looking to design a "perfect" child.
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If it didn't require all the crazy fertility drugs and the huge chance that I'd get preggo by having sex with my BF, I'd do it! $10,000 would save my life O_o
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We used to get these ads in the student papers at ND and Duke, and it used to piss the hell out of me that despite my SAT scores well above their threshholds and my GPA well above their threshhold and my extracurrics and resume and all that jazz, I wasn't TALL enough to give them their perfect Aryan baby. Not that I would donate eggs to people like that (or at all, probably, as I'm not a fan of pain, but definitely not to people like that), but it just made me SO. IRATE. You can't control everything about your child, you can't even guarantee their genetics by picking the "right" sort of genetic donor (I'm considerably shorter than both my parents, and all my siblings are very tall; I'm also the only person in my entire extended family in living memory with red hair).
I feel like it's an early symptom of parents who are living out THEIR problems and fantasies through their child, and no matter what this kid does, it's never going to be good enough. Because GOD KNOWS nobody's genetic material was good enough to CREATE the kid in the first place ....
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I'm blonde with green eyes (but Jewish!!) I could pollute their gene pool. BWAHAHAHAHAHAH
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