As news comes in about a woman taking legal action against the body which regulates fertility clinics in the US, claiming that egg donors suffer more than sperm donors so should get higher compensation, we ask: who really has it harder?
Let’s do a quick compare and contrast.
| Sperm donor | Egg donor |
|---|---|
| Travelling to the clinic weekly (or more often) for up to three months | Travelling to the clinic about ten times over the course of a month |
| Keeping the quality of sperm donations high means you have to organise your sex life around the donation | Avoiding the risk of getting pregnant yourself means you have to organise your sex life around the donation |
| The embarrassment and performance anxiety of providing a sample on demand in the clinic | Egg collection is done via a surgical procedure at a hospital |
| Sorry lads, I can’t think of an equivalent for this but feel free to suggest one! | Injecting hormones, sometimes with ‘fun’ side effects |
| By the time your donation is used recipients have forgotten their donor is a real person | A nice thank you from the recipients |
| Everyone thinks you are a w**ker | Everyone thinks you are a saint |
Of course, in the UK donors only get expenses rather than being paid hefty sums of money, but still, sperm donors do their bit towards getting a couple pregnant, yet seem to go unappreciated. The lads insist the disparity is because women moan more while they suffer in manly silence. What do you think?
