The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 banned the buying and selling of human

Question

The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 banned the buying and selling of human organs. However, the law still allows people to be compensated for "donating" blood, sperm, or eggs. Reproduction clinics often direct their marketing at female college students who are likely to have the traits desired by couples seeking a donor egg, and who might also have the financial burdens that come with being a college student. Advocates of compensating egg donors point to how these women are helping couples achieve their dreams of having a family. Those who are opposed to it, on the other hand, argue that these companies are exploiting women who are in desperate financial need and that they are doing so without the donors fully understanding the pain and risks involved in the procedure. Do you think that paying women for their eggs should be legal? Why or why not? What moral responsibility do such clinics have for caring for donors who have complications from the procedure years down the road? Should companies that are targeting college students for such procedures be allowed to market directly to them with flyers, emails, or ads in student newspapers? Why or why not?

Explanation / Answer

I agree the National Organ Transplant Act enforces only voluntary donation of human organs and not buying or selling them to protect the econocmical underprivileged from being exploited the economically priviledged. However as we see this act is just 3 decades old and every Act needs to evolve with time to accomodate the new changes obsevered in the society after its implementation.

Paying sperm, egg, blood donors can be legalized only if there is a specific Act permitting to that effect, else it may again result in exploitation and donor selection which is hindering with the natural process especially in the matter of procreation.

Blood donation can be conducted under stringent measures after a through series and tests and health check ups to benefit both the giver and the receiver and protect the donor against exploitation but allow the donor to make financial benefits or benefits in kind for example a bottle of blood in exchange to a bottle of blood offered will enrich both.

With regards to sperm and egg donation, the donors and the beneficiaries must be educated about the pros and cons of such donations in the language and terms they are able to understand and made to sign a consent form only after a detailed analysis of the donors understanding of the consequences of donation.

Moreover, these donations and beneficiaries should be limited only to infertility rather than indulging those couple who wish to do ",gene shopping" This will help the interest of the donors and that of the nature at large to be protected.

The donors should be allowed to meet the beneficiaries and ask the questions and queries to verify the conditions of infertility and in case there is any case found of "gene shopping" as in active selection of certain genes even if both the couples are capable of producing the child themselves then these should be reported and be covered under the organ donation Act.

When, these measures are taken allowing the donors to obtain financial benefits for their donation may not be harmful and will be exercised with wisdom and care keeping the larger interest in mind.

A third party Counselling can also be conducted by an institution completely unaligned to the infertility clinic before the donor decides to donate the sperm, egg or blood to verify if it is voluntary and done in complete awareness and thorough education has been provided to the donor about the consequences.

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