US women sell their eggs to fight credit crunch

By Sarah Williams

Drawn by payments of up to $10,000, an increasing number of women are offering to sell their eggs at US fertility clinics as a way to make money amid the financial crisis.

Nicole Hodges, a 23-year-old actress in New York City who has been out of work since November, says she has decided to sell her eggs because she desperately needs cash. “I’m still paying off college. I have credit card bills and rent in New York is so expensive,” Hodges, who has been accepted as donor and is waiting to be chosen by a couple, said.

Hodges said there was also some satisfaction in helping an infertile couple have a child. “Yes, the money is very nice, but it’s nice to be able to let a mother who wants to be a mother be a mother,” she said. Fertility organizations across the country said there had been a growing interest. The Centre for Egg Options in Illinois has seen a 40% increase in egg donor inquiries since 2008.

New York City’s Northeast Assisted Fertility Group said interest had doubled and the Colorado Centre for Reproductive Medicine said it had received 10% more inquiries.

The Reproductive Science Centre of New England, which does not deal directly with egg donors, said it had gone from no inquiries to now receiving several a month. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends that total payments to donors be capped at $10,000. A 2007 study by the society found the US national average payment was $4,216. Payments by clinics in the Northeast were found to average just over $5,000, while those in the Northwest averaged just under $3,000. Katherine Bernardo, egg donor programme manager at Northeast Assisted Fertility Group, said while some women saw donation as an easy way to make money, not everyone was accepted.

“There is an economic climate that encourages women to find creative ways to make money,” she said. “That doesn’t mean that anyone interested in egg donation actually goes on to donate because so few women are actually eligible.”

‘Parliament of clowns’ laughs off recession
Clowns from across the world met in Germany to pitch laughter as a way to survive the economic crisis.

Organisers of the ‘Parliament of Clowns’,’ performing in a theatre in the eastern city of Dresden on Friday, hoped to prop up people's spirits, saying the health benefits of laughter are proven. “Fear can be laughed away, even in economically tough times,” said clown Antoschka, who spent two decades with the Moscow State Circus and launched the event under the slogan ‘Clowns of the World Unite’.

One performer scheduled to join the red nose and face paint troupe is US physician and professional clown Patch Adams, whose belief in the healing power of laughter reached a global audience when actor Robin Williams portrayed him in a movie.The clowns say their two-hour show will remind people there are alternative ways to respond to bad news after a US study showed anger posed health risks.

“When a balloon bursts, you can either cry or laugh. We clowns are laughing,” Antoschka said. Swiss clown Olli Hauenstein had some advice for the troubled financial sector. “Don't lose courage and happiness in life just because you have been foolish before,” he told German radio station Deutschlandfunk.The clowns plan to meet twice a year and have set up a foundation to finance projects to bring laughter to children.