Heng Boon Chin
National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Reprod Biomed Online. 2005 Nov;11(5):552-3. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)61161-3.
In many countries where the sale and purchase of donor oocytes is banned, a legal loophole often exploited is the use of free air tickets and hotel stay to entice prospective oocyte donors, in lieu of monetary payment. Such a means of procuring much-needed donor oocytes is ethically unsound. There is a lack of transparency and the personal motivation of the oocyte donor may be clouded by the desire for a 'free' holiday. Moreover, such a system is open to abuse by medical professionals. Private fertility clinics may source for oocyte donors to attract patients. The oocyte donor is paid nothing (except free travel and hotel stay), while the medical professional makes a handsome profit from treating infertile patients, which is not equitable. Medical professionals can also easily make a profit by marking up the price of air tickets and hotel stay to the patient (oocyte recipient). This would be thoroughly unprofessional, since the money earned is not directly related to the medical skills and expertise of the fertility specialist. Hence, it is imperative that various regulatory authorities should critically re-examine the giving of free travel and accommodation to oocyte donors, instead of monetary compensation.
在许多禁止买卖捐赠卵母细胞的国家，一个经常被利用的法律漏洞是，用免费机票和酒店住宿来吸引潜在的卵母细胞捐赠者，以替代金钱支付。这种获取急需的捐赠卵母细胞的方式在伦理上是不合理的。缺乏透明度，而且卵母细胞捐赠者的个人动机可能会被对“免费”假期的渴望所蒙蔽。此外，这样的体系容易被医疗专业人员滥用。私立生育诊所可能会寻找卵母细胞捐赠者来吸引患者。卵母细胞捐赠者没有得到任何报酬（除了免费旅行和酒店住宿），而医疗专业人员通过治疗不孕患者获得丰厚利润，这是不公平的。医疗专业人员还可以通过提高向患者（卵母细胞接受者）收取的机票和酒店住宿价格轻松获利。这将是完全不专业的，因为所赚取的钱与生育专家的医疗技能和专业知识没有直接关系。因此，各监管机构必须严格重新审视向卵母细胞捐赠者提供免费旅行和住宿而非金钱补偿的做法。
