Currently, the health sector prohibits any form of commercial egg donation and egg donation, and egg donors are limited to women who have received egg retrieval during human assisted reproductive treatment cycles. For these women, who are inherently fertile, eggs are not easy to produce, and the vast majority are reluctant to donate to others, even if there are frozen surplus eggs. In addition, there are other social factors that make the construction of egg banks more difficult.
So, sisters, if you have extra eggs you would be willing to donate?
For women with premature ovarian failure or no eggs who want to have children, obtaining egg donation is the last glimmer of hope, but the health department prohibits any form of commercial egg donation and egg donation, and egg donors are limited to women who have received eggs in human assisted reproductive treatment cycles.
Donor eggs are different from sperm donation, not who wants to donate eggs can donate, only women who do IVF can provide eggs. Experts said that when doing IVF treatment, people with extra eggs can freeze their eggs first, and after pregnancy and childbirth, go through the relevant procedures under the premise of the couple's willingness to donate the remaining eggs to others.
That is to say, in the case of a woman who does IVF and retrieves more eggs, if the patient voluntarily donates a part of the eggs, which is the only donation method that can be used. For example, if you take 20 eggs and leave 15 basically guaranteed IVF surgery this time, it is okay to donate 5; but if you only take 10 eggs and want to donate 5, the doctor will certainly not agree.
Taking a maternal and child health hospital as an example, the current egg inventory in the hospital is zero, and the number of egg borrowers has more than 100 registered, they are waiting for eggs to be donor, and it is normal to wait for 3 to 5 years.
So, why is sperm bank common in China, and the establishment of egg bank is so difficult?
1
Self-frozen eggs are long-term responsibility
Another often overlooked consideration is that after egg retrieval and cryopreservation, the egg freezer remains responsible for the long term. How many years are you going to keep? Is it conditional for long-term preservation? What should I do if I cannot use it after thawing or if the operation fails? What should I do if I get married and give birth naturally during this period, and the frozen eggs are not needed? What if a child born with frozen eggs is unhealthy?
2
Purely business conduct is unethical
In domestic discussions about egg freezing and the legalization of commercial egg donations, the United States is an example often cited by proponents. In the United States, commercial organizations will take the lead in helping egg freezers sign various contract documents, and medical institutions are only responsible for completing the operation, and the rest is the egg freezers' own affairs. The country should not only see its open and convenient side, but also take into account the potential technical and ethical risks. After all, eggs are different from ordinary commodities, and they should not be allowed to open up the market because someone is willing to buy and sell. It is certainly a good thing to moderately liberalize egg donation and help infertile families who are really struggling. However, it would be unethical to turn egg donation into a purely commercial act of "egg money trading."
In addition, although the current egg retrieval technology is very mature, the possibility of risk still exists. The tragedy of a young unmarried woman who donates with the idea of helping others, but accidentally injures her body or loses her fertility, is a tragedy that no one wants to see.
Egg donation, donated is not only a few eggs, but more likely to be a living life in the future.
3
The lack of egg sources is the biggest constraint
Although the techniques for artificial egg retrieval and egg freezing are very mature, there is still no formal egg bank built.
First, women's eggs are not as "rich" as male sperm. Males have sperm cells, generally before the age of 60 sperm can continue to produce, a single time can discharge as many as 40 or 50 million sperm; in contrast, each woman at birth, the ovaries of the undeveloped follicles are a certain number, a total of hundreds of thousands, but can only release one or two mature eggs per month. A woman can release up to 300 to 500 mature eggs in her lifetime.
Relevant data show that in 2004, the First Affiliated Hospital of Peking University experimentally tried to establish an egg bank, because there were few egg donors and the immature egg freezing technology stopped.
In 2009, the Reproductive Medicine Center of the Third Hospital of Beijing Medical University tried to build an egg bank, and the source of eggs became the biggest limit, and finally it was not resolved.
4
Egg donation is risky
At present, more than 20 provinces and cities in the country have established human sperm banks, but because egg donation has more risks than sperm donation, safety factors have also hindered the establishment of continental egg banks.
It is understood that from ovulation induction to egg retrieval, the process that women go through is much more complicated than that of men to take sperm. Male sperm supply is harmless to the body, but some restrictions of domestic technology, artificial egg retrieval is traumatic, and has a certain impact on physical health. If not done carefully, it can also cause infection and damage to organs, and a small number of women are seriously allergic to drugs and may die.
Domestic sperm bank
In addition, ovulation-promoting drugs can produce some adverse reactions, and in severe cases, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome occurs, and even lead to respiratory and circulatory failure, kidney failure, etc. Multiple egg retrievals can damage the ovaries and pelvic organs, and although it is a small probability event, once it occurs, the damage to women is difficult to recover.
From the current medical development, there are still technical problems for the successful freezing of eggs. Sperm are relatively "antifreeze", and now the sperm in the "sperm bank" are frozen in liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius. Due to its special nature, eggs are vulnerable to damage and loss of vitality during the process of freezing and thawing.
5
The follow-up management model for egg donation is immature
Also difficult is the management of the self-oval reserve egg bank. The management of the egg store is a systematic project, which requires special manpower and time to do information collection, file management, cryoper maintenance, tracking and follow-up.
Specifically, it includes the specification of informed consent, the determination of the retention period of frozen eggs, the settlement of arrears in breach of contract or the inability to contact the owner, etc.
In this case, many families are desperate to seek an underground egg bank, and the industrial chain of egg sales can be developed.
At present, there are many restrictions on legal egg donation in the mainland, coupled with other reasons such as safety considerations, the establishment of egg banks has been repeatedly delayed.
In this case, some couples who are eager to have children have no choice but to defect to the underground egg market. Due to the irregularity of trading and unfavorable supervision, the underground egg market is frequently chaotic.
While it is important to combat this type of illegal trade, at the root, expanding the channels of unpaid egg donation and improving the establishment of egg banks are the fundamental solutions to such problems.