In what has been observed by The Point to be a growing trend caused by the economic hardship pervading the country, a growing number of young Nigerian women are donating their eggs for monetary compensation at fertility facilities.
The women, many of whom are usually blissfully ignorant of the full import of their decision, are also often shortchanged by some of the clinics concerned as they get paid a pittance which they use for keeping body and soul together, or in certain cases, for acquiring a coveted possession, such as mobile phone.
Like other people in the world, Nigerians also find themselves grappling with fertility issues and it is estimated that at least one in four couples may require a form of assisted reproduction such as in vitro fertilization.
Having children, therefore, is a thing that is at the core of most couples’ existence and the absence of these bundles of joy is making childless persons and couples resort to finding solutions at fertility centres.
The fertility hospitals themselves offer the well-known IVF, which is a part of the highly sought-after Assisted Reproductive Technology, or ART, that helps women who cannot produce eggs of their own and this could be through “egg donation.”
This is invariably where the so-called volunteer egg donors come in.
Usually, they (donors) are women that fall within the age bracket of 20 to 29, and must have gone through a “rigorous” selection process that involves medical tests, medico-legal counselling and even psychological screenings to assess their fitness and determine how viable their eggs are likely to be.
Although the practice of donating eggs is not new in the country, the economy has however been forcing previously unwilling women to start frequenting fertility clinics to undergo what health professionals call vaginal ultrasound egg collection, which is a process where fertilized eggs are removed from the ovaries.
A 22-year-old young woman from Rivers State, whose name will remain anonymous to protect the privacy of egg donor and recipient, recently sold some of her eggs for N170, 000 at a fertility clinic located in Lagos, Nigeria.
“I read the forms they gave her and almost passed out when I realized that she will be paid N170, 000 if she donates her eggs at the fertility clinic. Of course, I refused to sign on the dotted line and she began to raise her voice at me”
The donor had incurred the wrath of her aunt who threatened to kick her out of the apartment they were living in at Egbeda, Lagos State, if she went ahead with the procedure.
The aunt, who will simply be called Mrs. Douglas, told The Point that she would not have known about her niece’s egg donation adventurism if she (donor) had not told her that the fertility clinic insisted that a family member must sign the contract they had with her.
“The donor is my niece and she came to me one fateful evening and told me that she had some forms she wanted me to fill and sign.
“I was surprised at first because she has never brought a document like that to me before.
“I read the forms they gave her and almost passed out when I realized that she will be paid N170, 000 if she donates her eggs at the fertility clinic. Of course, I refused to sign on the dotted line and she began to raise her voice at me, crying out that she wouldn’t have brought the forms to me if the clinic had not insisted that her next of kin had to act as a guarantor.
“When I refused to budge, she angrily said she would meet someone else to sign for her and I guess she did so.
“This is because about two weeks after that incident, I was searching through her belongings after she left for work only to find a new Android phone among her things.
“I was baffled at first about it because there was no chance that her salary as a cleaner could get her such a phone.
“When she got home, I confronted her with my findings and she told me that she eventually sold her eggs to the clinic and used the money to get herself a good phone.
“Anyway, as things stand, she has left my house. I know the economy is bad but I will never tolerate such an action in my house,” Douglas said.
A nurse working in one of the fertility hospitals in Lagos State who also pleaded anonymity because of the confidentiality agreement between the hospital she works for and clients, disclosed to The Point that since the economic hardship in the country was becoming more unbearable, potential egg donors have been trooping into the hospital.
The nurse said there were instances where the hospital was able to establish that some would-be egg donors, because of the bad times, made false claims about themselves or presented distorted medical histories just to get their hands on the money on offer.
She said, “Well, it is not surprising that more women are coming to donate eggs. I think the economy is frustrating a lot of women and egg donation is offering them a temporary reprieve from hardship.
“And the way I see it, if the economy doesn’t improve this year, it will not require rocket science to know that more women will be coming forward for the procedure this year.
“But don’t get it twisted, women who are fertile are expected to donate eggs so that other infertile women can experience conception or be able to have babies of their own.
“But the decision to do this should be voluntary, not motivated or inspired by greed or the economic situation of the country.”
Explaining how some other interlopers were exposed in the hospital, she said, “There was a woman who came here to donate eggs, and we later found out that she was already above the mandated age of 30.
“The eggs of women under age 30 are more fertile and this over aged donor filled the wrong information in our forms and apparently forged her documents.
“Luckily for us, a member of staff here who knew who she was hinted to us that she might not be qualified. That was how we let her go.
“Another ‘donor’ with an ulterior motive also came here. She made a mistake when she decided to make friends with one of our nurses and before long, was divulging some personal information to the nurse.
“She told the nurse whom she assumed to be her friend that the economic situation in the country forced her to come to the hospital where she could sell her eggs.
“She said she wanted to foot some bills and no helper was coming her way but her plans fell through because the hospital doesn’t condone talkative donors.
“There is also another case involving a young lady whose eggs had been extracted a month earlier and she came to our hospital to undergo the procedure again.
“The danger here is that after a donation, a woman is expected to give her body time to rest and heal. But this one was having none of that. She wanted money and put her health and life at risk.
“When she started taking the fertility drugs, the pain became very unbearable for her.
“Thank God she eventually confessed that she recently had the procedure. She said the economic situation was responsible for her decision to donate eggs so soon again.”
A medical practitioner and current affairs analyst, Harrison Maduka, shared his thoughts on the “sale of human eggs” with The Point.
He said, “I really don’t blame those who are moving up and down looking for where to sell their eggs.
“There is high unemployment in the country. Inflation, too, is driving many youths around.
“Many young women are living from hand to mouth and will do anything, apart from prostitution and hook-ups, to survive.
“Fertility has come to their rescue. It is already a flourishing business in Nigeria and these desperate and hapless young women want a slice of the cake.
“And I will not say they are donating their eggs. They are actually selling their eggs because their pain and discomfort are not for charity.
“So, they take hormone injections at the beginning of their menstrual cycles to stimulate their ovaries into producing mature eggs that would be extracted after about two weeks.
“But during the course of this treatment, which they can be asked to self-administer, they experience lower abdominal pains and other side effects that may even affect their bladders or kidneys if the procedure is not properly done.
“These women take all the risks, going through the pain because the motivation behind their decision is money.”
Asked whether there are laws that provide guidelines for assisted reproduction and the like, Maduka said, “The bill for the establishment of a Nigerian Assisted Reproduction Authority has been before the National Assembly since 2012 but hasn’t been signed into law.
“You know that our society has not fully embraced assisted reproduction, including egg donation and surrogacy.
“Sadly, while we continue to wait for workable laws that should provide legal protection against exploitation for donors, the fertility centres are smiling to the bank. They can even export the eggs abroad or sell them here for millions of naira.”
