Oocyte donors’ awareness on donation procedure and risks: A call for developing guidelines for health tourism in oocyte donation programmes

Abstract

Objective: In the recent years, oocyte donation programmes have widely spread worldwide becoming the drive of health tourism. In somecountries, donation programmes are tightly regulated, whereas in others, the guidelines or regulations are not well defined. To evaluate donors’awareness of the donation programmes and the ethical consequences in enrolling these programmes.Material and Methods: A detailed questionnaire-based survey was conducted to evaluate the donors’ main drive to get involved in thedonation programme and the donor’s knowledge and awareness of risk factors.Results: The majority of the donors (70%) were undergoing donation programmes for financial gains through compensation. The donors wereespecially not aware of the long-term medical risks and the possibility of identity exposure through genetic screening.Conclusion: The main duty of health professionals is to counsel donors about the basic procedures and any possible problems they may faceduring the donation programmes. Reimbursement of oocyte donors is a slippery slope in oocyte donation programmes. High compensationmay make women think that donation is a profession without considering possible risks. Furthermore, with the wider use of direct-to-consumergenetic testing, and genetic anonymity may be at risk, thus the donors have to be counselled properly. Therefore, in this era of health tourism, itis crucial to set up well-defined counselling bodies in all oocyte donation centres and enable donors to make an informed choice in becomingoocyte donors.