Traffic in Human Oocytes/Ova/Eggs 1

Although the term “egg” referring to human oocytes or ova has recently become quite commonly used in the U.S., this is technically incorrect. Not only are mammalian oocytes obviously different in appearance from avian (bird) eggs (the platypus excepted), they are formed by different mechanisms, remain within the female body for fertilization and development, and, after fertilization, develop embryologically in a very different manner. Nevertheless, these terms are used completely interchangeably in this report.

Kay J. “Woman and Egg at Brown,” Brown Daily Herald, September 27, 2004.

Extracted from Nature 442 (August 2006): 607–608.

Nature

The Canberra Times, November 8, 2006.

Center for Genetics and Society, http://www.genetics-and-society.org/resources/background/eggextraction.html.

Cited in Steinbrook R. New England Journal of Medicine 354 (2006): 324–326.

Extracted from Nature 442 (August 2006): 607–608; L. Brinton, Reproductive Biomedicine Online 15 (2007): 38-44.

Center for Genetics and Society.

Brinton L. Reproductive Biomedicine Online; M.A. Rossing, et al., New England Journal of Medicine 331: 771–776.

Althuis M.D. Am. J. Epidemiol. 161 (2005): 607–615.

Extracted from Nature 442 (August 2006): 607–608, emphasis added.

Nature, emphasis added.

Nature

Nature

The World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, http://www.fda.gov/oc/health/helsinki89.html

The World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki

The World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki

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Solenni P. “Women's Health: Consequences of Human Egg Donation: Report Before the Massachusetts State Legislature, February 16, 2005,” http://www.physiciansforlife.org.

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President's Council on Bioethics, http://www.bioethics.gov/reports/cloningreport/research.html.