By Ranjan Bhaduri
London, Mar 18, (THAINDIAN NEWS) An IFV clinic in the USA has drawn flak after announcing a contest with donor of free human eggs as the prize. Almost 240 people reached a hotel in London yesterday to try the luck and select the egg donor prior to getting the fertility treatment in the USA. The winner of the contest will be able to evade the stringent UK regulations on egg donation. The critics are of the opinion that it is a shallow trick to exploit the people who are seeking a child desperately. Christian Medical Fellowship’s CEO Peter Saunders said in his statement that the act makes human reproduction equal to a commodity and literally demeans it.

The 13,000 human egg prize is being offered by Genetics & IVF Institute of Virginia. It has tied up with London’s The Bridge Centre. The reproductive endocrinologist of GIVF Dr Laurence Udoff, who came to London was not sorry over the entire thing. On the contrary, he said that he came down to participate in a meaningful thing. He also said that the entire controversy is unnecessary and uncalled for. The conference room in the London hotel was filed up by the 240 emotionally excited people who arrived at the closely guarded seminar last night.

Those who came were married couples belonging to various age groups. Some of them said they cared the least about criticism and the contest may give them the freedom from the pain of being childless. Dr Laurence Udoff informed them that the clinic has a success rate close to 60 percent, with infertile women aged up to 55.