Bioethics committee says female egg donors should be compensated
By Ca-Mie De Souza, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 03 November 2008 2237 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Just two days after Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced that the law will be amended to allow living organ donors to be compensated, the Bioethics Advisory Committee said women should be fairly reimbursed when they donate their eggs for research.

The topic of compensation was a major issue during a two-month public consultation, which ended in January this year.

The Bioethics Advisory Committee said donating eggs for research should be altruistic and women should be compensated for their loss of time and earnings in the process of donating their eggs.

Professor Lim Pin, chairman of the Bioethics Advisory Committee, said: "We want to make sure that the amount that is reimbursed is not so large that it becomes an inducement."

That is why women who donate their surplus eggs after undergoing fertility treatment will not get any compensation.

In addition to existing Health Ministry guidelines, the committee recommended that donors be given full information on the donation process and that they are free to withdraw their decision at any point before the eggs are used for research.

It is recommended that independent parties seek the consent of female donors so that there will not be any conflict of interest.

Professor Lee Eng Hin, chairman of the Human Embryo and Chimera Working Group, said: "The MOH guidelines at the moment have to do with clinics that do assisted reproductive techniques. They do not cover the harvesting of eggs for research purposes outside of these clinics, so our guidelines will now cover everybody who wants to obtain eggs for research."

Fertility experts said that as those who are coming forward are volunteers, they should get more than just a reimbursement.

Dr Suresh Nair, medical director, Parkway Fertility Centre, said: "She's also taking a risk. She's subjecting herself to some procedure that's potentially dangerous. How are you going to value that?

"For a start, it should be those young, healthy women who are not really involved in fertility treatment. For the time being, don't include the fertility couples as yet, because they are already burdened."

While there is stem cell research using tissue other than human eggs, the committee said the findings right now are still preliminary.

The Bioethics Advisory Committee's report will be submitted to the government's Steering Committee for Life Sciences for deliberation.


- CNA/so