Sell Your Health for Cash?
Reported March 10, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — There has been a boom in willing donors of sperm, eggs, plasma and even hair. They are shocking trends that are a sign of our financial times.
“This is the first time I’ve done this,” Jamie told Ivanhoe.
“I have donated four times,” Melissa recalled to Ivanhoe.
They are two women who are selling parts of themselves. Jamie’s selling her hair. Melissa’s selling her eggs.
Jamie posted a profile online where buyers can bid on her hair. When she’s happy with a price, it’s goodbye to her long locks.
“I told them that I’d sell 18 inches of it, so it would be right up to the nape of my neck,” Jamie said.
Buyers look for hair that’s been untreated and undyed, and the seller has to abstain from smoking and drugs. The healthier the seller, the higher the price for the hair.
Seven years of length will likely get her between $600 and $1,200.
Each cycle of eggs fetches stay-at-home mom Melissa between $7,000 and $10,000. Melissa has endured the injections, tests, side effects and exams four times but has made $28,000.
“Since the economy isn’t very strong, you don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring,” Melissa said. “I thought it would be a really good idea.”
She says it’s worth it despite health risks like infection, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and possible future infertility.
A surge has taken place in donations of hair, eggs, sperm and blood for money. Visits to bloodbanker.com were up 50 percent at the end of 2008, and egg donation agencies say donor inquiries have gone up 30 percent over the past year.
“It would be naïve to suggest there’s no financial incentive for the donor,” David Cohen, M.D., Chief of Reproductive Endocrinology at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told Ivanhoe. “There clearly is.”
If money is your only reason, many experts say it’s the wrong reason. Ask yourself some questions before trying to make quick cash.
“What’s my consequence for the long-term?,” Dr. Cohen said. “What are the risks that I’m taking? How’s it going to affect me?”
Despite criticism from friends, Jamie and Melissa are sticking by their decisions.
To donate eggs, a woman first has to pass a set of psychological and physical exams. To sell hair, the website www.thehairtrader.com offers a place for hair sellers and buyers to meet and trade. So far, the highest bid for hair was $2,600.
For more information, please visit:
Http://www.thehairtrader.com
Http://www.eggdonor.com
Http://www.bloodbanker.com
Http://www.eggdonationinfo.net