Every 15 seconds or so, a batch of human eggs is extracted from a woman somewhere on the planet.
Most IVF treatments involve women using their own eggs. In at least 6% of cases the eggs come from donors—the fertility industry’s term—who agree to have their eggs removed, often in exchange for money. The donors are recruited into a $35 billion-and-growing global market for assisted reproduction. This market comprises would-be parents, agents, doctors and clinics—many of the latter backed by Wall Street and private equity.
The egg trade, which operates with minimal regulation across borders, thrives in open markets, gray markets and black markets. When the rules or circumstances change in one country—foreigners are banned from using surrogates in India; war shuts down fertility tourism in Ukraine; Chinese couples are permitted more than one child but forbidden to buy other women’s eggs—the contours of the business change, too. Those who want children seek help in Greece instead of India, Argentina instead of Ukraine, the US, not China.
