Three Million Toman Eggs and Eighteen Million Toman Wombs in Iran's 'Black Market' for Infertility

Despite the price of three million tomans for eggs and eighteen million tomans for rented wombs in Iran's 'black' infertility treatment market, reports indicate that this market has flourished over the past decade. The newspaper 'Vaghaye Ettefaghieh' published a report on Tuesday, February 1, showing that as infertility rates rise, the market for egg donation and rented wombs in Iran has become 'blacker.' The report states that 'brokers' buy eggs from women donors (sellers) under 33 years old for two to three million tomans and sell them to applicants at two to three times the price. The report also mentions that the rate for rented wombs is eighteen million tomans, with a brokerage fee of at least five million tomans. 'Vaghaye Ettefaghieh' notes that a 'legal vacuum' in this area is another factor contributing to the expansion of the 'black' infertility market in Iran. According to the report, judges issue rulings in this area based on the fatwas of religious authorities. The news agency Ana reported on Monday, January 31, quoting Saghar Salehpour, the executive secretary of the International Congress on Clinical Challenges in Midwifery, Women, and Infertility, that 11 to 13 percent of couples in Iran are infertile. Ms. Salehpour stated that women's contribution to this infertility is 60 percent while men's is 40 percent, adding that 'despite existing technologies, only 40 to 45 percent of infertility cases are treated.' The failure to treat 55 to 60 percent of infertile couples in Iran has led them to enter the 'black' market for buying and selling eggs and renting wombs. There are no precise statistics on buyers and sellers in this market, but the Mehr news agency estimated in 2014 that there are about three million infertile couples in Iran, some of whom have been 'drawn into this market.' The law on embryo donation to infertile couples was passed in 2003 and approved by the Guardian Council in 2004, but this law has many gaps that have remained unaddressed. According to a 2013 report by the Jam-e Jam newspaper, some infertile couples have faced 'difficulties' in this market due to the 'lack of appropriate laws.' Ambiguities in the rights of renters, rentees, and children, as well as the laws of hospitals, civil registration, and the judiciary in this regard, are among the problems couples face when obtaining eggs or renting wombs.