Egg Vs Sperm Donation - Why Are Women and Men Treated Differently?
When faced with infertility, many couples turn to egg/sperm donors so that they may start a family.
However, sperm donors are treated differently than egg donors.
Not just in cost and legalities, but in also the attitude shown by the families who are helped.
While there is a reason behind the difference in cost, the rest is just unfortunate stereo-typing.
The mothers are considered to be selfless and fathers are thought to be distant.
This also reflects that motherhood is valued more as compared to fatherhood.
Obtaining eggs is a tricky process.
Factors such as surgery, medication, a lot of discomfort, risks, timing make it even more difficult.
Along with these the donor might suffer from side- effects.
After the donor passes the initial screening process of providing information and answering questions, the donor also has to follow a medical regimen given to her by the physician which includes daily injections for a certain period of time, daily visits to the physician, and then finally undergoing the surgery for the retrieval of the eggs.
The donor is also evaluated by a psychologist (after the screening) to ensure the fact that she will be able to deal with everything, the donation, the medication and that she is freely volunteering to donate her eggs.
For all this, the donors are paid as much as 5,000 dollars, sometimes even more than this.
A male donor, however, only has to pass the screening processes and is given far less or no preparation as to what it means to donate their genes.
They are paid only 50 to 80 dollars per donation and are rarely acknowledged by the families they help.
In contrast, egg donors are valued and even cherished and are repeatedly thanked for donating their eggs.
Some organizations also encourage the couples who have been helped to send thank you card, gifts and even cash bonuses to the donors.
Along with all this, the sperm and egg donors are also treated differently in the legal system.
By and large, every sperm donation follows the Family Code according to which the husband whose, wife is inseminated by the donors sperm, is the recognized as the legal father and the donor will have no rights or responsibilities to the child.
Compared to the sperm donations, there have been several cases of egg donation where the clarification for the intended parents to have legal rights was necessary.
This was because without the clarification it would be unsure whether lady A gave her eggs to lady B as she required gestational services from B or whether she was enabling B to be a mother.
Both A and B can claim maternity on the child in this case, B by virtue of giving birth and A by virtue of blood relation to the child.
Hence to avoid this ambiguity the contract should state the reasons of egg donation, the willingness and the reasons for it.
Hence it is clear, there are two main reasons for the disparity between a sperm and egg donor- one being the difference in cost and the procedure for obtaining the eggs and the sperm.
The other reason is the unfortunate gender stereo- typing.
However, sperm donors are treated differently than egg donors.
Not just in cost and legalities, but in also the attitude shown by the families who are helped.
While there is a reason behind the difference in cost, the rest is just unfortunate stereo-typing.
The mothers are considered to be selfless and fathers are thought to be distant.
This also reflects that motherhood is valued more as compared to fatherhood.
Obtaining eggs is a tricky process.
Factors such as surgery, medication, a lot of discomfort, risks, timing make it even more difficult.
Along with these the donor might suffer from side- effects.
After the donor passes the initial screening process of providing information and answering questions, the donor also has to follow a medical regimen given to her by the physician which includes daily injections for a certain period of time, daily visits to the physician, and then finally undergoing the surgery for the retrieval of the eggs.
The donor is also evaluated by a psychologist (after the screening) to ensure the fact that she will be able to deal with everything, the donation, the medication and that she is freely volunteering to donate her eggs.
For all this, the donors are paid as much as 5,000 dollars, sometimes even more than this.
A male donor, however, only has to pass the screening processes and is given far less or no preparation as to what it means to donate their genes.
They are paid only 50 to 80 dollars per donation and are rarely acknowledged by the families they help.
In contrast, egg donors are valued and even cherished and are repeatedly thanked for donating their eggs.
Some organizations also encourage the couples who have been helped to send thank you card, gifts and even cash bonuses to the donors.
Along with all this, the sperm and egg donors are also treated differently in the legal system.
By and large, every sperm donation follows the Family Code according to which the husband whose, wife is inseminated by the donors sperm, is the recognized as the legal father and the donor will have no rights or responsibilities to the child.
Compared to the sperm donations, there have been several cases of egg donation where the clarification for the intended parents to have legal rights was necessary.
This was because without the clarification it would be unsure whether lady A gave her eggs to lady B as she required gestational services from B or whether she was enabling B to be a mother.
Both A and B can claim maternity on the child in this case, B by virtue of giving birth and A by virtue of blood relation to the child.
Hence to avoid this ambiguity the contract should state the reasons of egg donation, the willingness and the reasons for it.
Hence it is clear, there are two main reasons for the disparity between a sperm and egg donor- one being the difference in cost and the procedure for obtaining the eggs and the sperm.
The other reason is the unfortunate gender stereo- typing.
