Surrogacy Scandal (The Baby-Selling Ring)

a blog by Donor Diva, August 5, 2011

To read more Donor Diva: Let's Talk Egg Donation blogs, CLICK HERE.

Navigating infertility is hard enough, but it is even harder when you feel like you can’t trust the people who are helping you.

Last week the news broke on the "baby-selling ring." Theresa Erickson and Hilary Neiman are (or were) respected surrogacy/adoption lawyers. What made them want to risk their good names to sell babies?

As a person who needed an egg donor to conceive, it is really upsetting to hear how these children were created. The surrogates were sent to the Ukraine to be have anonymous donor egg and donor sperm embryos transferred. These children were created with the intent of selling them to desperate couples.

There is enough gray area in egg donation, sperm donation and surrogacy. Now when these children get older, they could hear that they were conceived with the intent of being sold? I hope they don’t have to deal with that. I know there are enough hurdles for donor-conceived children.

How do you think this scandal will make egg donors feel? I worry that people who sell babies will make some people think twice about donating their eggs. When an egg donor is donating their eggs, they are trusting the agency, fertility doctor, lawyer (if one is used) and the intended parents to do the very best for the possible children. There is so much trust needed in 3rd party reproduction, and this scandal has created fear and suspicion.

As an egg donation advocate, it is frustrating to hear stories like these because it stifles the progress we are making to help people understand third party reproduction. I spend time putting myself emotionally out there, talking to people about egg donation and what a wonderful choice it is.

I hope this scandal doesn’t turn people off of egg donation, sperm donation or surrogacy, because it can be a great option for those who need it.