By Patty Adams Martinez
November 26, 2013
Actresses' and Models' Eggs are in Demand by IVF Couples 26570

Apparently, in our looks-obsessed society, struggling actresses and models in New York City are now the "it girls" for couples undergoing IVF. According to the New York Post, "In an industry where attractiveness is a prerequisite, and steady income is hard to come by, actresses often are an egg agent's perfect target." In fact, ads are even being placed on acting trade sites like to entice women looking for work to donate their eggs at a premium. The beautiful wannabes are being paid anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000 for their egg donations—much more than your average bartending actress would make in a month.

It's like there's this whole underworld designed to find eggs for rich people—like a black market, only legal. "Egg agents" do a full background check that includes school transcripts and SAT scores, blood tests for diseases, and a psych exam. The higher the woman's GPA and SAT scores, the higher her payday.

But it's not exactly easy money. A prospective donor is put on hormones for two to nine weeks to increase her egg production, and the harvesting of eggs for IVF can be very painful. After the surgery, she is left feeling sore and bloated, and as of yet researchers do not know if there are any long-term effects associated with donating eggs. What they do know is that you lose eggs, and it increases your risks of developing cysts. Because of that, there are rules in place that only allow a woman to make six donations in her lifetime.

Those donating the eggs are of course also helping to bring life into the world. But they will likely never know for sure if children were born from their donated eggs, because donors often sign waivers saying that they will not be notified of the outcome. Sperm donors have been around forever and are now becoming trendy with movies like Vince Vaughn's Delivery Man, and MTV's show Generation Cryo—which follows a girl and her 15 half-siblings as they try to find their sperm donor dad. So it's no surprise that egg donors are now in demand, especially considering more than 7.3 million couples in the US struggle with infertility.

Does wanting to have attractive egg donors make us as a society superficial or smart—thinking of survival of the fittest in every sense of the word?

TELL US: Are you surprised actresses' and models' egg donations are in demand? Would you choose a pretty donor over a less attractive one?

Image of woman courtesy of Shutterstock.