profession
34% of egg-donor recruiters don’t comply with ethics guidelines
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 20, 2012
Egg-donor recruitment agencies are likelier than physician-run fertility clinics to not follow ethical standards set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said a Fertility and Sterility study published online July 27. That conclusion was based on a review of 102 clinic and agency websites.
The society says compensation to egg donors should not vary based on factors such as educational achievement. Yet 34% of the websites examined offered higher pay based on donor traits such as athletic skill and good looks, said the study (link).
Only 10% of the clinic websites offered higher pay based on donor traits, compared with nearly 60% of the agency sites. The findings suggest a need for greater monitoring of websites to ensure that society-endorsed clinics follow the organization’s standards for ethical recruitment, the study’s authors said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/08/20/prbf0820.htm.
