About Us   |   Contact Us   |  
Submission  

Ethical and Psychosocial Implications of Egg Donation: A Systematic Review of Global Evidence with Contextual Relevance to Sub-Saharan Africa

DOI : https://doi.org/10.36349/easjms.2026.v08i04.007
PDF
HTML
XML

Background: Egg donation as an aspect of assisted reproductive technology has brought hope to several individuals and couples with various forms of infertility. Whereas literature from around the globe has been rich on its ethical, psycho-social, and health dimensions, Sub-Saharan Africa has remained underrepresented in that discourse. This review, therefore, synthesizes international evidence and contextualizes it for Sub-Saharan African settings. This is despite the fact that there are significant research gaps, particularly on the health outcomes of donors over the longer term, investigation of psychosocial effects, and understanding of how different compensation and consent frameworks affect the experiences of donors. Most importantly, empirical studies from Sub-Saharan Africa remain scant, with a lack of culturally adapted ethical guidelines. Methodology: The study used PRISMA guidelines to comprehensively search the databases: Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, Wiley Cochrane, and Clinicaltrials.gov. Studies in the form of surveys, systematic reviews, and qualitative interviews were analyzed using a narrative synthesis approach. A total of 5528 papers as of October 2nd, 2025, were reviewed, out of which only 14 papers were selected since they fit into the criteria. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used for quality assessment. Results: Informed consent procedures often lack the presence of long-term risks, and compensation practices are highly variable, with the potential for exploitation. Donors report a range of psychosocial outcomes from altruism to identity-related distress. Health risks include ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, although the possible links with breast and ovarian cancers are not established due to limited long-term data. Conclusions: The implications are equally clear: ethical egg donation in Sub-Saharan Africa should be based on consent models sensitive to culture, regulated compensation frameworks, and mandated counseling protocols. Registries of don

TOP EDITORS

OPEN ACCESS JOURNALS

Professor Thomas Count Dracula, MD, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Haematology Head — Experimental, Historical & Sensory Haematology Vlad the Impaler University, Wolf’s Lane, Wooden Stakes Grove 666, Transylvania.

BEST AUTHOR

Of The Month

TRACK YOUR ARTICLE

Enter the Manuscript Reference Number (MRN)
Get Details

Contact us


EAS Publisher (East African Scholars Publisher)
Nairobi, Kenya


Phone : +91-9365665504
Whatsapp : +91-8724002629
Email : easpublisher@gmail.com

About Us


EAS Publisher (East African Scholars Publisher) is an international scholar’s publisher for open access scientific journals in both print and online publishing from Kenya. Its aim is to provide scholars ... Read More Here

*This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

© 2020, All Rights Reserved | SASPR Edu International Pvt. Ltd.

Developed by JM