Thread by @obasaolorunfemi

1 in every 6 couples in #Germany are currently unable to have children. #Watch The business of fertility – egg donation and surrogacy in Europe:

Egg donation & surrogacy are illegal in Germany but also a lucrative business in other parts of Europe (I would imagine eastern Europe particularly). I wonder if this business model already exists in Nigeria and what the position of the constitution is.

110K IVF cycles are performed in #Germany alone every year. (working with North Cyprus prices of €4k ave. as an estimate), that’s at least €440M/ N2.6Bn on IVF treatments annually. Interestingly, sperm donation is legal but egg donation is illegal (and I think I know why).

US surrogacy: >€130K while Ukraine surrogacy: >€65K. In 2020, about 100 babies from surrogate mothers were stranded in #Kyiv since there where no flights:

Aside a possible societal backlash, there is the moral and ethical debate about surrogacy and how surrogates are treated. How much exactly is a womb worth to be rented? This price is fixed about 10K EUR in places like #Greece. This is a lot of money especially for single women.

As part of an effort to bounce back from the financial crisis, #Greece started to promote medical tourism and with it, Surrogacy. At least 200 babies/yr are born via surrogates and a court process guarantees parental rights before pregnancy begins starting from 78K EUR.

Surrogates get at least 1K EUR a month from the moment they get pregnant and additional 10K when the baby is delivered. This is a very powerful incentive for single women/ mothers to do this who repeatedly insist that they just want to help and it is not for the money. Hmmm.

The govt official in #Greece insists the position of the law is 10K EUR for surrogate mothers and 20k/ 30k is illegal (I assume for concern that it would push more vulnerable women into it) which begs the Q again- How much exactly should "renting" a womb be worth?

Even with Greece's regulations and govt oversight, some clinics have turned it into a business, exploiting foreigners. (Perhaps #Germany was right to have banned this?) Like #Greece, #Spain is a leader in egg donation in #Europe. By law in #Spain, Egg donors are anonymous.

In the process of egg donation, women are injected with hormones so more eggs can be harvested instead of one. There is also the process of embryo storage an adoption as well. The hospital says they can store up to 60k eggs at a go, provided by the culture of egg donation.

An egg donor in #Spain receives between 1k-1.5K EUR per donation- (min. wage in #Spain is 1.05K EUR and 40% of young people are unemployed so financial incentive yes?) and students can donate too. The hospital doesn't mention again if intl students also donate.

Scientist Alvarez-Plaza says the clinics deliberately target vulnerable young women to whom the financial incentive would be interesting to while also painting it as "helping others" and throwing in a free gynecological checkup to complete the deal.

Here is a small example how this played out in North Cyprus:

https://twitter.com/obasaolorunfemi/status/1405777736950378499?s=20

My thoughts on the medium to long term dangers of promoting #Surrogacy as a society 👇🏾👇🏾.

In this documentary, Clinics & doctors are acting like admission agents in North Cyprus, lol. Downplaying the risks to both the would-be parents and prospective surrogate mothers/ egg donors so is it really an informed decision? Donors will eventually lose out IMHO.

There are complex legal, ethical and societal aspects to consider. So what do you think? Should reproductive rights (surrogacy/ egg donation) be commercialized for profit? or should it be free? Please vote and RT.