Egg donors in Florida and everywhere could be getting a “raise” for their egg donations…after four women sue the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
The claim? Price-fixing by the leading association of fertility specialists, limiting the compensation women get for their eggs.
More than a decade ago, the ASRM set “Egg Fee Guidelines” at $5000, going on to indicate that payments greater than $10,000 went “beyond what is appropriate.”
While the ASRM guidelines are just that – guidelines – not laws, lawyers for the women argued they amounted to “Anticompetitive Business Practices” and “an illegal conspiracy to set prices”. 90% of labs across the U.S. are society members and follow the decade-old guidelines.
Now, the ASRM has settled with the women who claim its guidelines violate federal antitrust laws.
Florida Egg Donors Could See Higher Compensation
According to the settlement – which needs court approval – the medical group will remove the language regarding egg donor compensation, plus cover all court costs, fees, and give $5000 to each of the four plaintiffs.
Fertility industry groups in favor of price caps argue they prevent coercion and exploitation in the egg-donation process.
Here at home, the first people to gauge the true financial impact of this settlement will be Florida Egg Donors and Florida Egg Recipients, as the rules of supply-and-demand flow into the process. But based on this settlement, as well as a recent IRS ruling regarding egg donor compensation, Attorney & Reproductive Lawyer Leslie Schreiber believes “We are likely to see a rise in compensation for egg donors.”