title: Mirror gametes donation.
abstract: Candidate recipients of donor gametes have a moral obligation to make a contribution to the system from which they benefit by reciprocating. They can do this as a couple when the partner of the person who has no usable gametes donates and receives the mirror gametes in return. In an indirect exchange system, the couple receives bonus points for their donation so that their waiting time for the gametes is reduced or even fully canceled. A system of strict reciprocity is rejected as unfair because it excludes categories of people from access to donor gametes. Also candidate recipients who for medical or psychological reasons do not qualify as donors should have access to donor gametes on the basis of points collected on other criteria. Not only contribution but also need (the wish to have a child) should be taken into account when allocating donor gametes. The mirror exchange system can alleviate the shortage of both sperm and egg donation in an ethically acceptable way.
authors.affiliation: Bioethics Institute Ghent, Department of Philosophy, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. guido.pennings@ugent.be
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pennings
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007316:Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous / Q000941:ethics; D008297:Male; D018587:Oocyte Donation / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods*; D013094:Spermatozoa; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000941:ethics*