An advertisement for an egg donor agency came up on Twitter today, and the language (though nothing new) struck me:
"Meet donor #3276 studying Nursing in college. She's healthy, smoke-free, and eager to help families grow. Her decision to donate comes from a desire to make a positive impact while supporting her education." The message captioned a photo of Donor #3276 in a doctor's bed next to an ultrasound machine. Another 19-year-old donor's advertisement read "Donor 3100, from Little Rock, Arkansas, combines intellect and creativity with a strong High School GPA and a degree in Fashion Merchandising. Multilingual in Spanish and Latin, she excels in painting, music, gymnastics, running, and more, while her generous spirit is motivated by a desire to help others have children."
President Donald Trump's push to make in vitro fertilization more accessible and cheaper has created a higher demand for egg donors, all of whom are young women, and many of whom are students. Donor agencies know that college campuses are great recruitment zones. Female students see egg donation as a reliable and casual income generator. Some aren't warned of the side effects; women are fed hormones, which can lead to infertility, and multiple egg donations per year can be disastrous to women's bodies (especially if they don't have proper medical advice guiding them). Not to mention the psychological challenge many women face when they grow older and wonder what happened to the biological children doctors harvested from them.
Egg and sperm donation agencies have been booming businesses for decades. But sometimes you read something as reductive as "Donor #3276" and are instantly struck by the insidious commodification of the female body, and the gross marketing tactics used to sell human reproductive organs and functions.