Gamete donors: sociodemographic profiles, motivations and treatmen

Course description
Studies and discussion of gamete donation mainly focus on patients who need or request it or on the technical aspects of the procedure rather than on the donors themselves. Except for occasional studies, such as the one led by an ESHRE group in 2011-2012*, there is a lack of knowledge about the sociodemographic characteristics of gamete donors, their reasons for giving, their experiences and expectations. Such empirical data would complement the brief knowledge which already exists in the literature to provide a greater insight into gamete donation, especially where there is a shortage of donors and long waiting lists for recipients.

Thus, this Campus workshop aims to provide new understanding of gamete donation from the donors’ perspectives. It aims to improve knowledge on gamete donor experiences and to extend the debates on gamete donation.

As a first step, we identified two main topics for discussion: the (non)anonymity of sperm donation and the growing “market” for egg donation. Both may be non-consensual in certain European countries, reflecting different regulation and guidelines, and encouraging cross-border reproductive care. From the donor’s perspective, the course aims to shed light on the anonymity vs non-anonymity debate in sperm donors and remuneration vs non-remuneration of egg donors, to raise ethical questions and how to best deal with them in daily practice.

*Pennings et al., 2014, Socio-demographic and fertility-related characteristics and motivations of oocyte donors in eleven European countries, Human Reproduction 2014, 29(5): 1076–1089

Organising Secretariat
ESHRE Central Office
Meerstraat 60
1852 Grimbergen
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 489 269 969
E-mail: info@eshre.eu
URL: http://www.eshre.eu/21CW051314