Physical Beauty Is Only Egg Deep

I nearly choked over my coffee and eggs last weekend as I read about the exploits of sixtysomething Ron Harris, a sometime Playboy photographer and horse breeder who has launched a Web site auctioning human eggs from models and actresses. Just log on to https:www.ronsangels.com and you too can bid on the eggs of an “actress” whose finest moment was playing the part of a dead body on “Homicide, Life on the Street” and whose sole self-proclaimed defect is that she exercises too much.

The assisted reproductive technology community has responded with horror, sounding its usual battle cry that regulation is needed to stop profiteers like Harris from preying on vulnerable people whose only desire is to overcome infertility and become parents. Unethical and distasteful, decries the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a private voluntary group of infertility specialists.

Maybe so. But moral and ethical revulsion do not always translate into unlawful conduct, and this eggs-for-sale Web site exemplifies the (fre)e-market influence that has invaded our social fabric. Advertising human eggs for sale is not illegal under federal law, although it may be prohibited under some states’ surrogate parenting laws. The sale of eggs and sperm is likewise not illegal and in fact has been a flourishing industry for more than a decade, since the 1985 introduction of cryopreservation, or freezing, of human embryos. While federal law does prohibit the sale of nonreplenishable solid organs such as kidneys, lungs and hearts, regenerating tissues such as blood, sperm and eggs are not covered under the act.

But while federal law may not specifically prohibit the sale of human gametes, it is not totally silent on the booming infertility industry. The Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act of 1992 contains reporting and certification requirements for programs offering in vitro fertilization and other reproductive technologies. This act was designed in part to prevent infertility clinics from defrauding patients by overinflating their advertised success rates. The law’s author, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said he would be looking into the activities of Harris.

Would a federal law banning the sale of human eggs and sperm be in the best interest of those individuals that such a law would be designed to protect? I think not. The “ronsangels” Web site is one of dozens advertising the services of women who, for a host of reasons, are seeking payment for the surrender of their eggs. What seems particularly repellent about Harris’ approach is that he is flaunting two characteristics that we would like to think are dissociated with reproduction--greed and physical beauty.

But even in the noncyber world, these factors often have played a role in issuing of offspring, and we are seemingly none the worse off for it. In the quaint, old-fashioned world of coital reproduction, mates seek out their reproductive soul mate to give their children the best opportunity for a quality life. Infertility patients are no less concerned with maximizing the quality of life for their children and may even be in the market for an egg to avoid passing on a genetic disease.

I join with the masses who deplore the sale of “beautiful” eggs for its borderline eugenic assertion that society values physical beauty above all else. But any student of genetic logic understands that the egg is only half the equation and the spermatic influence could be overwhelming.

Moreover, infertility is not a condition of choice. Couples seeking egg donors would much prefer to procreate naturally and thus tend to seek out donors who best mirror their characteristics, physical and otherwise, so as to produce a child as genetically close to them as possible.

As for www.ronsangels.com, I suggest that Harris save any commissions he receives from these postings for his legal defense fund. Trouble is already brewing with the beauties. One was taken off the site because “she was unstable,” to quote Harris; another aged two years overnight when her listed age was changed from 18 to 20.

Sloppiness like this portends lawsuits for fraud, negligence and the like. And unlike many of his competitors, Harris does not provide medical, psychological or genetic screening of his models, making his donors far less attractive to individuals who are earnest in their quest to become parents and must rely on technology to do so.

If women feel particularly offended by the idea of beauty eggs, suggesting our only worth is in our reflection, take heart. Harris says he will soon be posting male model sperm donors. And in an era of concerns about comparable worth, consider that beautiful sperm will go for about $5,000 a vial while beautiful eggs are expected to garner up to $150,000 each.