EXPLOITED BY CASH-FOR-EGGS IVF CLINICS

Mail investigation exposes how ruthless industry is cashing in on desperation

FERTILITY clinics are today accused of exploiting desperate women by asking them to donate eggs for cash and free treatment.

Women on low incomes are offered IVF at no cost – if they agree to give away half the healthy eggs they produce. They are told ‘an egg isn’t a baby’ and donating is ‘ just like giving blood’. The clinics charge other infertile couples as much as £7,500 a time for the donated eggs.

Undercover reporters from the Mail visited clinics posing as would-be parents who could not afford treatment. One consultant told them not to disclose in writing that they were planning to donate for financial reasons. He also boasted of the profits from trading eggs.

Another doctor said a reporter could trade her eggs for cash and use the money to fund her treatment.

Last night watchdogs launched an investigation and threatened the clinics with regulatory action.

‘I fear that some in my profession have no moral or ethical compass,’ said fertility pioneer Lord Winston after reviewing the evidence.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Mail’s findings were ‘serious and worrying’. Greater numbers of women have been obliged to go private for

fertility treatment because of Health Service cuts. Only 16 per cent of trusts now fund three cycles of IVF – down from 24 per cent three years ago. In Scotland all health boards pay for three cycles.

The revelations come on the first day of a major investigation by the Mail into the fertility industry. We will reveal that:

Women convinced to share eggs say they were exploited at a time when they were desperate;

Clinics target hard-up couples by offering high interest loans;

They sell expensive ‘add on’ treatments that increase the risk of miscarriage and premature birth;

Career women are misled into thinking they can delay motherhood by freezing their eggs;

Doctors may have covered up the number of women suffering with a potentially fatal IVF side-effect;

NHS hospitals let private patients jump queues.

Our reporters were encouraged to donate eggs at IVF clinics in London, Hertfordshire and County Durham.

They found clinics routinely offering ‘egg sharing’ programmes – whereby women who have healthy eggs but cannot get pregnant receive free or discounted treatment if they agree to donate.

They keep half the healthy eggs that are collected by doctors for their own IVF, while the rest are used for another woman’s treatment. Safwat Ashour, who runs a branch of the London Women’s Clinic in Darlington, told reporters that those who shared eggs usually did so for the financial rewards. The IVF consultant added: ‘You shouldn’t put this in writing. If you make it clear that it is for financial reasons, you will not be accepted.’

When asked why the clinic offered discounted treatment for eggs, he replied: ‘The eggs we are going to take are going to bring to us over £6,000. So we are making good profit.’

Mr Hunt said the probe launched into the Mail’s revelations by the Human Fer- tilisation and Embryology Authority had his full support. He added: ‘I will be paying close attention to the findings and in the meantime urge anyone with concerns to contact the HFEA without delay.

‘The Mail’s findings are both serious and worrying – and they are right to have brought them to public attention.’

Lord Winston said: ‘These women cannot appreciate the consequences of what they’re agreeing to. These patients are vulnerable and anxious and likely to be worried about money.

‘The women who are egg sharing are under duress and that’s really worrying.’ The London Women’s Clinic North East said last night that it complied with HFEA guidance and provided egg sharing irrespective of a patient’s financial position. It said Dr Ashour’s comments ‘did not represent the reality of the spirit of the guidance available to patients’ and patients had to have two independent counselling sessions.

For a woman to donate her eggs to an infertile couple she’s never met, so they may know the joy of having children, is a truly precious gift.

Some do it out of a spirit of pure altruism, others as part of ‘egg- sharing’ schemes whereby they themselves receive free or discounted IVF treatment in return for providing eggs to other couples who are unable to conceive.

Quite rightly, it is illegal for clinics to pay cash for egg donations beyond a fixed sum of up to £750 for expenses. The IVF watchdog – the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority – also states categorically that no one should be pressurised, bribed, or cajoled into donating.

But a disturbing undercover Mail investigation today reveals that some unscrupulous clinics are flouting the rules by convincing poor and vulnerable women to donate eggs for money and free IVF. The eggs are then used to sell treatment to other couples for up to £7,500 a time.

Donors should have thorough counselling, but our investigation shows this can be just one cursory session. The women are often so desperate for treatment themselves that they are ripe for exploitation. Some egg- sharers have a delayed psychological reaction – especially if they fail to conceive themselves after IVF – and any children their eggs may go on to produce have a right to seek them out once they reach the age of 18. In the longer term, these issues may create complicated mental health problems.

As a result of our exposé, the HFEA has launched an investigation, which is being closely scrutinised by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. It must be thorough and it must be tough.

yes, egg-sharing can be a good thing, but subjecting potential donors to duress or slick salesmanship is reprehensible. It reduces a precious gift to a mere commodity.