“Burnett, a kinesiology major at California State University, Northridge, earned $6,000 last semester by selling her eggs to a fertility clinic. She expects to receive a similar amount for another egg donation this spring.

Economic times are hard now, but for me they were also hard last semester and the semester before. This is a good way where I am making money and not having to work a full-time job,” said Burnett, 21.”

“And Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, director of the Fertility Institutes California-Nevada, said some women are capable of several donations a year and have been earning as much as $40,000 annually.

“We’ve had a spike not only in egg donors but also in surrogates,” said Steinberg in an interview from his Encino office. “People are looking at more creative ways to get money. Even donors from two and three years ago are coming back to do it again.”

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.