Only the Best Eggs

Mayah*, a senior at Yale, writes about the solicitation of egg and embryo donations from Ivy League students, an afterlife of eugenics.

*Mayah Monthrope ‘25 (she/her) is a senior at Yale University, majoring in History of Science and Medicine.

The impact of eugenics on egg and sperm donations can be seen clearly in most contemporary discussions about the subject. With global fertility rates declining, assisted reproductive technology (ART) takes a more prominent role in family building. Many couples turn to egg and embryo donations to have babies and while selecting donors, they engage in eugenic logics. Academic as well as lay conversations tend to focus on the genetic testing of embryos, allowing couples to screen for certain desirable traits. For example, in an episode of Stephen Hsu’s Manifold Podcast, self-proclaimed pronatalist Simone Collins, talks through her in-vitro fertilization (IVF) journey. She talks about having to discard nonviable embryos while also choosing to implant embryos with what she sees as having the best potential – physically and intellectually. Hsu and Collins both express mild discomfort at the idea of preselecting a child’s eye color or height, but are perfectly comfortable with choosing their “cognitive ability” (how this is defined is never mentioned). Further still, Collins describes a desire to donate her eggs to other couples hoping to have children. While never explicitly stated, she seems to imply that her eggs are a gift to others because she has intensely screened her eggs to ensure the ‘best’ child will be conceived. “Who wouldn’t want to ensure their child has the best possible chances for success in life?” is the rationale, echoing the sentiment that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” preached by eugenicists of the early twentieth century. 

These attitudes are reflected in egg donation advertisements seen around college campuses. Women at Ivy League universities are targeted specifically by such ads, with promises of great compensation for their presumably ‘high quality’ eggs. They are encouraged to donate their intelligent, superior, and highly desired eggs or sperm in exchange for potentially life changing sums of money. In August of 2022, I received an email asking me to consider donating my eggs. The recruiter said that other Yale alumnae are interested in donating their eggs altruistically and  included a personalized application link. Compensation at this particular egg back starts at $7,000, but increases with additional ‘desirable’ traits. My experience is not unique, nor is it new. A Yale Daily News article from 2005 describes messaging from egg donation agency Tiny Treasures, which requires donors to submit their standardized test scores to give.  SAT scores and college transcripts directly influence the size of one’s compensation. They have a tier called “Extraordinary Donors” who received SAT scores above 1250, ACT scores above 28, a grade point average above 3.5, or attended Ivy League universities are paid between 150–250% more than other donors. These criteria mirror the ‘eugenic examinations’ of the 1930s, where “intelligence tests, economic, sex, sociologic, psychologic, and especially eugenic tests are added to a careful health survey.” If this is not blatant enough, author Kat Huang also mentions an ad placed in Columbia’s student newspaper from “a stable NYC Ivy League couple” seeking “an Ivy League student between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10 tall, of German, Irish, English, or Eastern European descent” offering $25,000 to a donor who fit the criteria. 

In an article titled “Better Babies: How Shall We Get Them?” authored by Huntington in 1931 he proposes a “grant from the state funds a sum of $100 for each Ph.D. who is the parent of a child. Thus the child of a man and woman who each held such a degree would entitle them to the sum of $200 and then upon some careful scale a college graduate would receive perhaps $90, a high school graduate $75, a grammar school graduate $50 and a moron nothing.” The economic structures put in place to ensure the creation of better babies.