In mid-May, a Kobe-based private organization called Oocyte Donation NETwork (OD-NET) announced that it had registered nine women who would offer ova to women who could not become pregnant due to abnormal ovarian conditions. It also announced that it had selected three infertile women to receive ova.
If things go smoothly, it will start ova collection and in vitro fertilization in about a half year. OD-NET's move comes in the absence of a law governing the type of service provided by the organization. Legal problems are possible.
Already a few clinics in Japan have carried out in vitro fertilization using ova taken from sisters or friends of women who want to have children. In the case of OD-NET, women who offer ova have no ties to ova recipients. They are volunteers and do not receive monetary rewards.
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