You've probably heard about the human egg raffle taking place to promote a link-up between a London fertility clinic and a centre in the US. Apparently, we are told, this is pretty standard practice in the States and it's not exactly a raffle as you don't buy tickets - in order to qualify you have to go along to an information seminar to find out more about the treatment on offer.
Whether it's a dubious marketing strategy or a slippery path to something far more sinister depends on your point of view.
It's interesting that when another London clinic gave away a number of free treatment cycles, there was no outcry. Is this really no more than a similar free treatment offer for those who need donor eggs? In theory, perhaps not, but in practice the idea of a human egg raffle is highly distasteful - and all the more so to us in the UK because the winner will choose the donor from a wide selection of women who are willing to sell their eggs.
The HFEA came out and condemned the raffle as "inappropriate" and said it "trivialises altruistic donation". But what of the clinic concerned? Splashed across the pages of our newspapers and discussed on radio and TV, it certainly got publicity - and if you're of the opinion that any publicity is good publicity, then perhaps it worked. But will it have encouraged patients to dash off to the seminar for the chance of winning a cycle of donor treatment? Or would it be more likely to encourage them to seek treatment elsewhere?
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