What is the role of reduced IVF fees in persuading women to volunteer to provide eggs for research? Insights from IVF patients volunteering to a UK ‘egg sharing for research’ scheme

Abstract

This article reports selected findings from a project investigating the question: ‘Does volunteering for the ‘Newcastle egg sharing for research scheme’, in which IVF patients receive reduced fees when providing 50% of their eggs, entail any social and ethical costs?’ The focus is on women's views of the role of the reduced fees in persuading them to volunteer. The study fills a gap in knowledge, as there have been no previous investigations of women's experiences of providing eggs for research under such circumstances. This was an interview-based study, designed to gain understanding of the volunteers’ perspectives. The main findings are that the interviewees’ primary goal is to have a baby; they volunteered to provide eggs for research in order to access cheaper treatment in a context where private IVF fees are high, there is insufficient state funding, and providing eggs for other couples’ treatment was deemed unacceptable. Interviewees welcomed the scheme, but were not volunteering entirely under circumstances of their choosing; they would prefer not to provide eggs during their own IVF treatment and under certain circumstances change their minds about so doing. In conclusion, reduced fees, although an important factor, do not act as an undue inducement in persuading volunteers to act against their own interests.

Keywords::

• Egg sharing
• IVF
• payment for eggs
• eggs for research
• egg donors

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the interviewees, the Project Advisory Group and the Newcastle Fertility Centre @ Life, without whom the project would not have been possible.

Declaration of interest: Possible conflicts of interest: In order to achieve complete transparency, the authors have explained in the text that they are employed by the same university as that to which those who established the scheme under scrutiny (the ‘Newcastle egg sharing for research scheme’) are affiliated. However, the work reported here was funded by the MRC as a completely independent study, following external reviews. A Project Advisory Group of senior UK colleagues was also appointed to assist in maintaining analytical objectivity. Erica Haimes is a member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research Ethics and Public Policy Committee and of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Ethics Advisory Board; she receives no financial return from either organisation. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (grant: G0701109).