Dear Alice,

I have seen multiple advertisements for egg donation in my school's newspaper. I could sell my eggs for $25,000 or more! That's a year of tuition! There's got to be a catch. When I do some research to find out the procedure and the risks, I only seem to find ovum donation "businesses" — not the most straightforward sources on the subject. Alice, I trust you! Can you tell me... what have I got to lose?

— Laying Golden Eggs

The above request for advice from Alice appeared on the website of the Columbia University health service, and refers to the "Egg Donors Wanted" ads increasingly seen on the Internet, in college newspapers and on city trains. According to USA Today and MSNBC, fertility clinics, stem cell researchers, and brokers are bidding up the prices paid for human eggs. One ethicist says that eggs have quickly become "commoditized."

Prices are especially high for fertile college women with top test scores and picture-perfect looks. Many websites exhibit pictures of potential donors sorted by hair color, height, dress size, education and SAT scores. Many donors openly acknowledge that money is a big factor in their decision. "Everyone does it for the money," says egg donor Jennifer Dziura, an aspiring model in New York with perfect SAT scores. "No one would do that for free - maybe for your sister, but not for a stranger." Twenty-five year old Kristin McKenna donated her eggs to help build her savings. "It does feel weird to know there's a child out there," says McKenna, who has signed up to donate again.

Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics, sees the problem growing as states such as California move closer to funding major stem-cell research, requiring more donor eggs. "We worry that we offer people so much money that they are blind to the risk and their motivation is strictly the money," Kahn says. That's the very reason, he notes, that it is illegal to sell an organ, such as a kidney, for donation. "So I'm not comfortable saying we should start that with human eggs," he says.

The American Fertility Society feels it is wrong for human eggs to be "sold", but it considers it acceptable to compensate a woman for her time, inconvenience and risk associated with the process of donation. Specifically, an egg donor first takes medication to stop her menstrual cycle. For the next several weeks she injects hormones into her lower abdomen to hyperstimulate her ovaries to immediately produce a crop of mature eggs. Afterward, a needle is surgically inserted through her vaginal wall to suction the ripened eggs from her ovaries. Between 12 to 60 eggs are harvested at once and used for stem-cell research, or invitro fertilization for infertile or homosexual couples

My heart goes out to couples struggling with infertility and college students strapped for cash. People troubled by both problems are represented more than once on the team at CBMW. Nevertheless, like yesterday's post on "wombs for rent" in India, the bioethical concerns are overwhelming. Gender Blog will leave it to other commentators to sort out the myriad sinful problems represented above, and instead focus on the tragedy of commoditizing women.

Being paid for selling eggs, surrogate motherhood or prostitution in each case reduces a woman to the cash value of her femininity. Tellingly, egg broker websites display intimate life details, photographs, and personal essays but not the name of the woman herself. A woman created in the image of God should not be sold in parts.

When Eve was presented to Adam as a helper, he immediately recognized that she was "at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." The marriage relationship of holding fast and forsaking all other is not a commercial transaction for only one component of a woman. A complementarian man should not purchase parts of different women. A complementarian woman created by God should not give away immodestly or sell cheaply any part of herself.

In God's eyes, a woman is more than a womb for hire. Yet:

Commercial surrogacy, or being paid to give birth to the child of a stranger, was legalized in India in 2002. Since then "Reproductive outsourcing" has been a rapidly expanding business in which poor women are hired to carry babies to term for heterosexual and homosexual couples from around the world.

The Times Online cites official sources suggesting that this "reproductive sector" of India's economy will be worth as much as $12 billion this year.

As more Westerners opt to outsource pregnancies to the subcontinent, some Indian clinics are reporting a fourfold rise in the number of foreign clients on their books in the past year. As demand increases, newspaper adverts for surrogates are becoming more common. "British couple seeks surrogate to carry child. Great pay!! A $1,000.00 bonus!!!" reads one..

The New York Times describes two homosexual men who "plan eventually to tell their child about being made in India, in the womb of a stranger, with the egg of a Mumbai housewife they picked from an Internet lineup." "We picked the one with the highest level of education," Mr. Gher said. From profiles of egg donors that were sent by e-mail, they rejected a factory worker in favor of a housewife, who they thought would have a less stressful lifestyle.

The overwhelming attraction is the price - 80% less than the United States. "Doctors, lawyers, accountants, they can afford it, but the rest of us - the teachers, the nurses, the secretaries - we can't, unless we go to India," said Lisa Switzer from San Antonio, Texas whose twins are being carried by a surrogate mother. Cheap medical care, a supply of equally cheap surrogate mothers and the absence of legal controls have made India the world leader in commercial surrogacy, according to the Times Online.

Another advantage in the eyes of customers is that women can be kept "free from vices like alcohol, smoking and drugs." For example, many surrogate mothers live together in a hostel attached to the clinic where they will donate eggs, receive implanted embryos, gestate under supervision and receive payment when the babies are delivered. According to policy, the donor and surrogate mother are always different women to reduce the likelihood of bonding with the child. Likewise, at most clinics contact is not permitted between the egg donor, surrogate mother or future parents.

The biblical, ethical and personal dilemmas from these news accounts are almost too overwhelming to count. Even government officials who are actively promoting India as a medical tourism destination, express discomfort over this exchange of money for babies.

My heart goes out to everyone involved: couples struggling with infertility, poor women giving up babies they have carried to term, parents looking for children at economical prices, homosexual couples hiring strangers to produce offspring, living embryos destroyed as a result of invitro fertilization, and growing humans who will come to learn of a bizarre conception.

A woman is more than a womb for hire. Another man's wife is more than a baby-making factory at a competitive price. The apostle Peter commands husbands to "show honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life" (1 Peter 3:7). In other words, every woman bears the image of God and has equal access as men to salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is a dishonor to women and to God to use their bodies to bear children outside of the protection of marriage.

Please pray that God would stop this horror. Pray that God would open the eyes of all of the people involved in this business. Pray that more governments would make this industry illegal. Pray that the gospel would advance and that the church would stand mightily against this trade.

[Mike Seaver is a pastor at CrossWay Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and posts regularly at Role Calling.]

Sex. It is a word that brings an explosion of thoughts to mind once it is read or heard. I remember in Middle School, kids would wear shirts by a brand of surf board wax called "Sex Wax" just because it had the "s" word on it. Now, I lived in Southwest Virginia at the time and the only need for wax was to help the kid's braces not get caught on their cheeks. The fascination with sex and the battle against improper views of sex was at high tide then and it seems like it is now causing flood-like casualties.

On Sunday, my senior pastor, Mickey Connolly, gave a relevant and helpful message from 2 Samuel 11 and 12 speaking of what it looks like to fall into sexual sin and how to battle against this devastating temptation. He gave 16 lessons that can be learned from David and Bathsheba. I am posting them because I found them helpful in reevaluating my own fight against sexual temptation. I hope they help you too.

1. Temptation can come when I least expect it. I must always be on my guard.
2. Sin often happens when I am not positively engaged in godly activities (when I'm not doing what I am supposed to be doing).
3. I usually have a chance to stop myself if I would only take it (1 Cor. 10:12).
4. Sin has a way of finding me out... it will be brought to the light.
5. Trying to cover up my sin only makes things worse.
6. One sin often leads to another.
7. Sin tends to harden my heart.
8. Even if no one else is aware, God is aware.
9. It is easier to be outraged at someone else's sin than my own.
10. To sin is to look for good outside of God's perfect provision.
11. Sin never satisfies.
12. Sin always has consequences.
13. Heartfelt repentance is the only appropriate response to sin.
14. While my sin has many manifestations it has only one root — a heart that craves something more than God.
15. Because of the cross, God does not treat me as my sins deserve.
16. While sin affects my life, it need not ruin my life.

Part IX: The Spiritual Life of the Masculine Man (Mark Alderton)  

One of the distinguishing marks of authentic masculinity-and one that is far too often missing among Christian men-is an intimate, day-by-day relationship with Jesus Christ, Mark Alderton told men during The Pursuit.

"It is a carryover from the fall that we, as guys, don't necessarily always want to pursue God ourselves and lead in that way," he said. "It is very common in a marriage for the wife who is enthusiastic about devotional life and she is consistent in it and wants to bring the man to church."

Preaching from John 15:4-5, Alderton admonished attendees to abide in Christ, unpacking the concept of "abiding" and encouraging men to answer three fundamental questions:

• What does it mean to abide in Christ?
• Why do we need to abide in Christ?
• How do we abide in Christ?

Yes, Christian men are living in union with Christ and it is through that union that all blessings flow, Alderton pointed out, yet most believing men languish in their spiritual lives because they do not understand what it means to live in a continuous, dependent, daily relationship with Christ, he said. In John 15, Jesus illustrated this relationship by speaking of a branch's reliance upon the vine for vitality.

"In order for the grapes to grow on the branch of a grapevine, the branch must be attached to the stem," Alderton said. "It can't be tied on, it has to be a part of it. It has to be a vital contact because all of the nutrients that are coming up from the soil through the root system have to come through that stem into the branch where life is flowing and it has to be connected all the time if there is going to be fruit.

"Jesus calls that connection ‘abiding.' Abiding is an ongoing, vital, dependent relationship. That's what branches do to vines. Jesus says, ‘that that is the kind of relationship you must have with me...there must be ongoing vital contact where my life is flowing to you because you are dependent on me for life, for fruit.'"

Alderton serves as pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Bloomington, Minn.

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Part X: Applying Truth (C. J. Mahaney)  

Consider the importance and role of application and don't assume that listening will ensure that transformation will take place.  Be doers and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1: 22

"At the end of any conference or any Sunday meeting, we must ask ourselves, ‘How can we, in the shadow of the cross, very specifically apply the content of what we have heard to our lives so that we can beginning this day be doers of the Word and avoid self-deception.'"

As David Powlison exhorts, "Connect one bit of scripture to one bit of life.  Apply one relevant thing from our redeemer to one significant scene in this person's story.  Bring one bit of the Bible to one bit of life." 

C.J. Mahaney leads Sovereign Grace Ministries in its mission to establish and support local churches. He pastored Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland for 27 years, and serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Board for CBMW.  He has written the book on Humility and also edited or coauthored four books in the Pursuit of Godliness book series: Why Small Groups?, This Great Salvation, How Can I Change?, and Disciplines for Life.

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Part VII: A Focused Life - Crucial Priorities of a Godly Man (Glynn McKenzie)

God has designed men to lead and influence others. A man cannot choose not to lead, only the direction that he is leading his family and others. It is an important responsibility of a man to know where he is going.

Drawing on Titus 2:11-14, a "focused life" is a man rooted in the pursuit of godliness, viewed through the lens of grace, and compelled by the purpose of grace. Direction, concentrated attention, consistent application are key aspects of a focus. In other words, a focused life is faithful application of the right attention in the right direction.

Two views through the lens of grace help maintain proper direction and right priorities.  The past work of Jesus on the cross for our salvation and the future return of the risen Christ and bridegroom of the church.  Glynn also provides practical tools along the way to organize and focus a man's life.

Glynn McKenzie was born in Barbados and has served as a Sovereign Grace pastor in Denver and Virginia Beach.  Glynn presently leads family life ministries at Sovereign Grace Church in Gilbert, Arizona.

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Part VIII: Q&A -- Steve Shank Interviews C. J. Mahaney

This extremely valuable session features C. J. Mahaney answering the following questions and more:

What would you say to a young man who is standing against the pressure of this culture?

Where should a father begin to transfer principles of manhood to his son?

What are the things that are necessary to be a godly, masculine man?

How should a man plan and prioritize his week in light of the cross?

How should a man exercise humble leadership by studying his wife and children?

How can men work together for accountability and mutual growth?

Why is Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood a must read for all men?

C.J. Mahaney leads Sovereign Grace Ministries in its mission to establish and support local churches. Steve Shank oversees the planting and strengthening of Sovereign Grace churches in the western United States and Canada, as well as Central and South America.

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