University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, 02115, MA, USA.
BMC Womens Health. 2024 Sep 20;24(1):526. doi: 10.1186/s12905-024-03302-w.
As the use of donor eggs for in vitro treatment has increased, both medically affiliated and private donor egg agencies have turned to online advertisements to recruit donors. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine provides recommendations encouraging ethical recruitment of donors, however there is no formal regulation for the informed consent process for egg donor recruitment and compensation. Underrepresentation of risks and targeted financial incentives may pose a risk to the informed consent process.
Data from online advertisements for egg donors active between January 1 - August 31, 2020, were collected to analyze content related to risks, Covid-19 precautions, donor payment, and desired donor characteristics. Advertisements for egg donors on Google, Craigslist, and social media were analyzed. Primary outcomes included the mention of the risks of egg donation, including the risk of Covid-19 exposure, in donor egg advertisements. Secondary outcomes included language targeting specific donor characteristics and financial compensation.
103 advertisements were included. 35.9% (37/103) of advertisements mentioned some risk of the egg donation process, and 18.5% (19/103) mentioned risks or precautions related to Covid-19 exposure. Of advertisements for private donor egg agencies, 40.7% (24/59) mentioned any risk, compared to 29.6% (13/44) of medically affiliated egg donation programs; the difference was not statistically significant (p-value = 0.24). Agencies targeting students and donors of a specific race were more likely to offer payments over $10,000 for an egg donation cycle. Among advertisements offering over $20,000 for donor compensation, 72.7% (8/11) recruited women under the age of 21.
Egg donor recruitment advertisements, for both medically affiliated programs and private agencies, were unlikely to mention risks including the risk of exposure to Covid-19. Non-medically affiliated private donor egg agencies were more likely to violate multiple American Society for Reproductive Medicine ethics guidelines, including offering higher than average compensation, and recruiting donors from young and vulnerable populations.
随着体外治疗中使用供体卵子的增加，医学附属和私人供体卵子机构都已转向在线广告来招募供体。美国生殖医学协会提供了鼓励对供体进行道德招募的建议，但是对于卵子捐献者招募和补偿的知情同意过程并没有正式的规定。对风险的代表性不足和有针对性的经济激励可能会对知情同意过程构成风险。
收集了 2020 年 1 月 1 日至 8 月 31 日期间活跃的卵子供体在线广告的数据，以分析与风险、Covid-19 预防措施、供体报酬和所需供体特征相关的内容。分析了谷歌、 Craigslist 和社交媒体上的卵子供体广告。主要结果包括在卵子供体广告中提到卵子捐献的风险，包括接触新冠病毒的风险。次要结果包括针对特定供体特征和经济补偿的语言。
共纳入 103 个广告。35.9%（37/103）的广告提到了卵子捐赠过程中的某些风险，18.5%（19/103）提到了与新冠病毒接触相关的风险或预防措施。在私人供体卵子机构的广告中，40.7%（24/59）提到了任何风险，而医学附属的卵子捐赠项目中这一比例为 29.6%（13/44）；差异无统计学意义（p 值=0.24）。针对学生和特定种族供体的机构更有可能为一个卵子捐赠周期提供超过 10000 美元的报酬。在提供超过 20000 美元补偿的广告中，72.7%（8/11）招募的是年龄在 21 岁以下的女性。
医学附属项目和私人机构的卵子供体招募广告都不太可能提到包括接触新冠病毒风险在内的风险。非医学附属的私人供体卵子机构更有可能违反美国生殖医学协会的多项道德准则，包括提供高于平均水平的补偿，并从年轻和脆弱的人群中招募供体。
