Ellie Houghtaling | The Guardian | November 7, 2021
In this narrative, Columbia University School of Journalism student Ellie Houghtaling describes egg donation as both a business transaction with the clinic and a way to help prospective parents achieve their dreams. Houghtaling, surprised by the screening process focusing on egg donors’ physical features and education level, notes the eugenic underpinnings of donor selection. Near the end of the process, she comments that she felt disrespected due to the disorganized surgery schedule and lack of health resources. Many young women are attracted to the $3,000-$10,000 checks offered by egg donation clinics to sustain the high cost of living or tuition in big American cities, but there is an extreme gap in data and long-term research on health implications for donors. To protect women who undergo egg donation, an egg donor registry could be helpful to track long-term health implications.