I was laughing because I thought it was so ironic and I wondered why I hadn't thought of it before. I've recently been seeing ads all over the internet asking me to donate my eggs, but I wasn't witty enough to think of the chicken comparison on my own. But it is so true. Ladies, if one of your friends walked up to you and asked you for your eggs, wouldn't you feel like a hen? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it were someone you knew, but what if some business approached you and promised you thousands of dollars if you would give away a part of your body to a complete stranger? There's not so many warm-and-fuzzies in that situation. In fact, if you thought about it long enough, you might connect the dots to something along the lines of prostitution.
Ouch. That name hurts worse than the other. Somehow a person who sells her body for money seems lower than an animal bred for her produce. But do I really have the gall to call those women who sell their eggs prostitutes and hens? Aren't they rather very generous and courageous for choosing to give up a part of themselves? After all, their eggs often go to women who do not have many themselves, or women who know their genes have certain traits that would be unfavorable in a future child. Isn't this a worthy cause, and a far cry from the sexual or voracious appetites of men?
Here's the issue with anyone who tries to make egg donation seem like anything better than old-fashioned prostitution: they are forgetting that the ends never justify the means. Let's say I decided to play Grinch this Christmas and steal most the presents of everyone in my neighborhood. But instead of keeping them for myself, I gave them to the homeless and those living in poverty. Now, giving to the needy is a good deed, but not when it is supplied by stolen goods (sorry Robin Hood). Theft is against the law, and it cannot be justified by a corresponding generous act. Back to egg donation. Selling your body goes against your dignity as a person, which is why the chicken comparison is so accurate. Even though the recipients may be less fortunate, the fact remains that a person should not be treated as means to someone else's end. No amount of financial compensation or encouraging words can make up for the fact that a woman is being used for her body.
So ladies, when you see those ads for egg donations and feel a cringe inside, don't try to reason it away with false ideas of generosity and charity. If you want to be generous and charitable to your friend who wasn't born with as many eggs as you, try talking with her about NaPro technology or even the benefits of adoption. Better yet, just be there for her as a friend. And tell those who would get you to sell yourself: "I'm not a chicken. You can't have my eggs."
