We refer throughout our site (see Conceiving With Donor Eggs) and on our blog to the ASRM’s [American Society for Reproductive Medicine] guidelines for egg donor compensation, first established in the year 2000 and restated in 2007. Among other recommendations, they claim that egg donor compensation over $10,000 is, in their estimation, “inappropriate.” Any member of the ASRM, that is, any legitimate IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinic or egg donation agency in this country, must abide by these guidelines in order to maintain their ASRM membership status. Therefore these guidelines have actually served as mandates; reputable agencies and IVF clinics have followed them, unchanged, for the past eleven years.
In a class action lawsuit filed in April 2011 in California, an egg donor has claimed the ASRM’s compensation cap illegal under the Sherman Act, accusing IVF clinics and agencies of restraint of trade and price fixing. The ASRM sent notice to its members today announcing that it has selected counsel and is beginning work on its defense.
We are eager to see how it is resolved.
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