Giving oocytes to women in need: Permitted, forbidden, or pressured? A commentary

Abstract

There can be no starker contrast in egg donation than between Austria, where it is forbidden, and Israel, where it is encouraged to the extent that some Israeli women go abroad in order to obtain these precious reproductive cells. There are grave ethical issues in some of the transactions involved, which may fall out with the definition of a gift. The ESHRE taskforce on cross-border reproductive care is keen to promote standards in this field, including the ethical standard of avoiding coercion.