In hard times, more US women try to sell their eggs

By Michelle Nichols and Angela Moore

Drawn by payments of up to $10,000 (Sh780,000), an increasing number of women are offering to sell their eggs at US fertility clinics to make money amid the financial crisis.

Nicole Hodges, 23, an actress in New York City, who has been out of work since November, says she has decided to sell her ovaries because she desperately needs cash.

"I am still paying off college. I have credit card bills and, you know, rent in New York is so expensive," Hodges, who has been accepted as donor and is waiting to be chosen by a couple, said. She said there was also some satisfaction in helping an infertile couple have a child. "Yes, the money is very nice, but it’s nice to be able to let a mother who wants to be a mother be a mother," she said.

Growing interest

Fertility organisations said there had been a growing interest. The Centre for Egg Options in Illinois has seen a 40 per cent rise in egg donor inquiries since the start of last year.

A 2007 study found the US national average payment was $4,216 (Sh328,000). Payments by clinics in the Northeast were found to average just over $5,000 (Sh390,000), while those in the Northwest averaged just under $3,000 (Sh234,000).

Katherine Bernardo, egg donor programme manager at Northeast Assisted Fertility Group, said while some women saw the donation as an easy way to make money, not everyone was accepted.

"There is an economic climate that encourages women to find creative ways to make money," she said. "That does not mean that anyone interested in egg donation actually goes on to donate because so few women are actually eligible."

— Reuters