We read with great interest, the recent advances in therapeutic
cloning made by Hwang and colleagues (1), in which the efficiency of
therapeutic cloning for the derivation of embryonic stem cells was
dramatically improved. Previously, only 1 in 200 attempts were successful;
now the success rate stands at around 1 in a dozen. Further rapid progress
in this technology is likely, and there is a high probability of
therapeutic cloning becoming a routine medical treatment procedure in the
future. Nevertheless, a major bottleneck of this technology is the severe
shortage of human donor oocytes.
A possible solution that appears particularly promising is egg-
sharing in return for subsidized fertility treatment (2). The cost of in vitro fertilization
treatment is particularly high, which is often a huge financial burden for
any childless couple contemplating fertility treatment (3), even for those
in the middle-income group. To partially offset the high costs, a fraction
of the patient’s eggs may be donated in return for subsidized
treatment. Indeed, such egg-sharing schemes to aid women who are unable to
produce any oocytes of their own have been going on for some time (2).
It can be argued that egg-sharing is ethically justifiable,
because it reaps benefits for both parties involved. The financial
burden for one childless couple is greatly eased, while a new hope is
given to another childless woman who is unable to produce any oocytes of
her own. Compared to the rampant commercialization that is inherent in the
direct sale and purchase of donor oocytes, egg-sharing appears to be more
morally palatable.
Likewise, it would also be more ethically justifiable for egg-sharing
to be utilized in providing donor oocytes for therapeutic cloning. On one
hand, a childless couple is being aided financially; while on the other
hand, a new lease of life may be given to a terminally sick patient. No
doubt it may be argued that by giving a fraction of her eggs away, the
fertility treatment of the donor may be compromised to some extent.
However, it is very often the case that the use of powerful drugs in
fertility treatment leads to an overproduction of oocytes and hence
supernumerary embryos, which are frozen, stored for several years, and then
eventually destroyed (4). Indeed, recent evidence would suggest that egg-
sharing does not significantly compromise the success of fertility
treatment (5). Perhaps it would make more moral sense to utilize excess
oocytes in therapeutic cloning.
1. W. S. Hwang, S. I. Roh, B. C. Lee, S. K. Kang, D. K. Kwon, S. Kim et al., Patient-
specific embryonic stem cells derived from human SCNT blastocysts,
Science, published online 19 May 2005.
2. E. Blyth, Subsidized IVF: the development of 'egg sharing' in the
United Kingdom, Hum. Reprod. 17 (no. 12), 3254-9 (2002).
3. L. Garceau, J. Henderson, L. J. Davis, S. Petrou, L R. Henderson, E. McVeigh, D. H. Barlow, L. L. Davidson, Economic implications of assisted reproductive
techniques: a systematic review, Hum, Reprod. 17 (no. 12), 3090-109 (2002).
4. H. Forster, The legal and ethical debate surrounding the storage
and destruction of frozen human embryos: a reaction to the mass disposal
in Britain and the lack of law in the United States, Wash, Univ, Law Q.
76 (no. 2), 759-80 (1998).
5. M. Y. Thum, A. Gafar, M. Wren, R. Faris, B. Ogunyemi, L. Korea, L. Scott, H. I. Abdalla, Does egg-sharing compromise the chance of donors or recipients
achieving a live birth?, Hum. Reprod. 18 (no. 11), 2363-7 (2003).
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