Jul 11, 2025, 9:53 AM ET

Surrogacy campaign group warns against egg donation in UK

An advocacy group in the United Kingdom (UK) is warning about the risks of egg donation, as reports show that donations are continuing to rise among young women.

Key Takeaways:

Egg donation appears to be rising in the UK, yet few women are aware of the risks.
The group Surrogacy Concern is speaking out on the physical and mental side effects women could experience.
They are calling for lawmakers to establish more regulations surrounding egg donation.

The Details:

Though it is illegal in the UK to buy women’s eggs, fertility clinics can pay women up to £985 for “expenses” related to egg donation. Critics warn that this, along with a widespread advertising campaign, has led to a rise in the egg donation market, with women having little to no idea of the risks involved.

Surrogacy Concern, a grassroots campaign organization fighting surrogacy, is working to raise the alarm. In a recent interview with The Sun, founder Helen Gibson warned that egg donation can include severe side effects, such as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), bowel perforations, abscesses, and even sepsis. She also warned against the negative impact egg donation can have on the mental health of teens.

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What We’re Hearing:

“We’re really worried that women are doing this for money and are not being fully informed of the risks to their health. This is a lot of money at any age but especially if you’re working-class or a student,” Gibson explained. “You could do it three times and make nearly £3,000, and you’re allowed to do up to ten cycles. It’s insanity.”

Surrogacy Concern is calling for lawmakers to step in and create more boundaries across the widely unregulated market of egg donation.

“We want the minimum age for donation to rise to 25, all payments ended to remove the risk of financial motivation, and adverts asking for young women to donate their eggs to be banned,” Gibson said.

Why it Matters:

Multiple studies have shown the risks of OHSS occurring during an egg donation cycle. OHSS is a response to the excess hormones women are administered during the process. The ovaries swell and become painful, and in severe cases, this can be life-threatening.

Wendy Kramer, director and co-founder of the Donor Sibling Registry, has warned that the risks of complications like OHSS are substantial.

“In our first published study of 155 egg donors, we found that 30.3% reported Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS),” she has previously said. “In our second survey of 176 egg donors in 2014, we found that 32.4% of egg donors reported complications such as OHSS and infection. In our third Study of 363 egg donors in 2021, 22.4% reported experiencing OHSS.”

In an interview with Newsweek, medical anthropologist Diane Tober also spoke of egg donation risks. She said four women who were surveyed suffered life-threatening complications from OHSS, with another four experiencing reproductive cancers.

“Do we know for sure that these unfortunate situations came about as a direct result of their egg donations?” she asked. “No. But these kinds of cases certainly point to the need for more research on egg donor health post-donation, and longitudinal studies that follow donors throughout their donation cycles and beyond.”

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