Egg Donor & Surrogacy Law Blog : Surrogacy and Egg Donation Lawyer & Attorney : Theresa Erickson : Erickson Law Firm : Practicing Reproductive and Gestational Carrier Law

Wow, it has been almost two full weeks since I last blogged - to much time out of the office traveling, and I am jet lagged! 

However, with the bad news surrounding several agencies, including Surrogenesis, I wanted to provide everyone a link to the AFA's new Educational Modules.  Watch the video on How to Select a Surrogacy and Egg Donation Agency. 

Let me know what you think, and feel free to post comments. 

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It seems like I have been doing legal updates all week with the Georgia embryo legislation.  However, I do have some updates on that state, as well as a few others.  Let me know your thoughts on each one, as I think that the evolution of this field is rapidly progressing, and we all need a voice.

Georgia - HB 388 passed the House and is on its way to the Senate.  It is essentially creating an embryo adoption format for the donation of embryos to others.  As for SB169, many revisions have been made, and we will have to see where it goes.  Resolve made the following update via their site:

"UPDATE:  The Georgia Senate passed a revised SB 169 bill today, and the bill will now move to the Georgia House.  Earlier today the Senate voted to table SB 169 which essentially took the bill out of further consideration by the Senate during this legislative session.  During a break in the Senate chamber, the bill was revised once again and re-introduced.   It was then voted on and passed 34 to 22.  RESOLVE and its partners are now studying the revised SB 169 to determine the affect on infertility patients in Georgia.  Once we have given the bill careful review, RESOLVE will provide a full analysis and what the next steps should be. 

THANK YOU to the thousands of people around the country that cared about this issue.  Georgia residents responded to our call to action with passion.   NEARLY 100,000 letters, faxes, and emails were sent to Georgia Senators, BY Georgia residents, in the past 9 days.    Hundreds of phone calls were made, and the infertility community in Georgia showed up when it mattered.  We thank each and every one of you for what you have done.  You have inspired the entire country with your activism.    You are an inspiration.  You have shown us that our voice matters and our voice will be heard."

Missouri - As in Georgia, the legislature in Missouri is pushing to restrict stem cell research.  In SB 3219, lawmakers are trying to make certain that research in not done on human embryos in their state.  The bill comes in response to the President's lifting of restrictions on stem cell research. 

Quebec - Born to Surrogate, Child has No Legal Mother, Quebec Judge Rules

A Quebec woman has no legal right to the child she paid a surrogate mother to carry for her, a judge has ruled, leaving the child without a legal mother.  The judge made this decision based on the fact that the husband's sperm had been used to fertilize the surrogate's egg - leaving the husband with the only claim to the child.  In addition, surrogacy is illegal in Quebec. 

UK - Government intends to prevent donor-egg children from contacting half siblings until they are 18 

Strict rules proposed by the Government's fertility clinic watchdog is causing quite a stir from patient groups.  It appears that couples have been doing this for some time, and HFEA wants to close a loophole. 

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Hospital officials in Japan have reported that a Japanese woman was likely impregnated with the fertilized egg of another woman by accident during an in vitro procedure last year. 

According to the Associated Press, the woman, who is in her 20s, aborted the pregnancy when she was told of the potential mix-up at the government-run hospital in Kagawa prefecture, about 330 miles southwest of Tokyo.

"She is now suing the local government for 20 million yen ($222,000), according to news reports.  Hospital officials apologized for the mistake at a news conference Thursday.

"She was very happy after undergoing such a difficult procedure and becoming pregnant, but unfortunately a mistake had been made," said Yuzo Matsumoto, director of the Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital.

The hospital has a long history of carrying out such procedures, and this is the first time such a mistake has occurred, hospital spokesman Hajime Morishita said.

"The in vitro procedures are carried out in sequence one after the other, and in this case the eggs from one procedure may have accidentally been left over and used in the following procedure," he said.

In vitro procedures — in which a woman's eggs are removed, fertilized outside the womb, and placed in her uterus to cause a pregnancy — are common in Japan, with hundreds of thousands carried out per year.

The case drew wide attention because bearing and raising children who are not related to the mother is uncommon and has been discouraged by Japanese medical groups.

Surrogate births, in which eggs are removed for fertilization and implanted in another woman, and adoptions are rare in the country."

All I can say is wow, this woman was courageous for handling this issue in the way that she did.  This could have caused an entirely different set of issues for her to deal with, as well as the rest of the people involved.  Unfortunately, an abortion had to occur to solve this.  What are your thoughts?

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Theresa M. Erickson, Esq.
Surrogacy Lawyer & Egg Donation Lawyer 
www.EricksonLaw.net

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I just found this great piece from Melissa Ford of Stirrup Queens (great blog, by the way!) on why egg donor (or "egg suppliers") should be compensated.  With all the articles running on the exploitation of egg donors, I thought that this was a timely discussion.  Let me know your thoughts on this one.

"Back in college, the popular way to make beer money was to sell your plasma. It was so popular that the student handbook listed the plasma center along with a few local dry cleaner recommendations and coupons to a sandwich shop. I'm not sure what the going rate was back in 1992, but a quick search online yielded that the going rate for plasma is about $70/week (two donations a week at $35 each).What made me think of this today? Because I read an argument against compensating egg donors stating that no other donated body part or product receives financial compensation. And that's just not true, there's plasma. In fact, it is legal in America to be financially compensated for cells, though you cannot be compensated for organs.

FoxNews reported back in November that plasma donations were up as first time donors stepped up to earn gas and grocery money by selling their blood product, which brings us to Salon's article this week on Broadsheet discussing the increase in egg donors and the ethics of paid donations. Quoting a recent Boston Herald article and the constant discussions around the Internet on this topic from the Wall Street Journal to the Washington Post, the post begins: "In these stark economic times, what's a gal to do when the creditors have the phone ringing off the hook or when her boss shovels her onto the fast-growing pile of the nation's unemployed? For an increasing number of women, it means considering selling their eggs for anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000."

Donations are, by their very definition, gifts without compensation. I fully agree with anyone who argues that donors who receive compensation are not donors by definition; though I also argue that donor is an antiquated word that no longer holds meaning in our society. Political donors give money with gain both tangible and intangible in mind from access to positions within an administration to simply having your desired party in place when policy is being decided. Philanthropic donors gets a building named after them after they cough up a ten million dollar check. It's not that there aren't people out there doing something for nothing, but most people want recognition of their gift, if not financial compensation.

If it helps, we can rename egg donors "egg suppliers" instead.

Tracy Clark-Flory did a fantastic job on the Salon piece pointing out that donors who are solely financially-driven usually do not make it through the rigorous screening process required of all potential donors (though returns with an alarmist final thought on financial desperation). Those who donate solely to make money with no regard to the enormity of the task on hand--emotionally or physically (for themselves, their recipient, and any children born of their gametes)--are generally left disappointed with a rejection slip. Over 90% of wannabe donors do not make it to that first lupron needle."

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Theresa M. Erickson, Esq.
Surrogacy Lawyer & Egg Donation Lawyer 
www.EricksonLaw.net

Subscribe to my blog at: http://www.surrogacyeggdonorblog.com/subscribe.html

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 Parents via Egg Donation has made the news!  The Oregonian has written a piece about the organization and Marna that you really must read.

"All over the world, women who can't give birth using their own eggs are becoming pregnant with eggs donated by others.

Many turn for information and support to a nonprofit organization called Parents Via Egg Donation, founded by a woman named Marna Gatlin. Those who've been helped by the organization call themselves "friends of Marna."

Marna lives right here in Oregon.

There's not a lot Marna doesn't know about giving birth using donor eggs. Eight years ago, she was part of the process herself.

At that point, she'd been trying to get pregnant for more than a decade. Marna says she miscarried nine times. Her marriage couldn't stand the stress; she and her husband divorced."

Click Here for the Complete Article

Be a Friend of Marna, and Donate Now

Theresa M. Erickson, Esq.
Surrogacy Lawyer & Egg Donation Lawyer 
www.EricksonLaw.net

Subscribe to my blog at: http://www.surrogacyeggdonorblog.com/subscribe.html

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