Introduction
When determining whether or not egg donation and surrogacy should be allowed in Norway, it is important to have a proper understanding of what the two are as well as the ethical issues pertaining to them. Survival of the species is most primal and instinctive attribute of any member of a species. For human beings, survival of the species is achieved through staying alive and creating life. The two main reasons that make a woman unable to bear children is either the inability to produce a viable egg or the inability to carry a baby to term (Thompson, 2016) . Egg donation happens when a woman offers her viable egg to another woman who is unable to produce her own eggs so that the egg can be used for the creation of an embryo through in vitro fertilization technology. Surrogacy, on the other hand, happens when a woman with viable eggs but the inability to carry a child to term has another woman carry the child on her behalf (Thompson, 2016) . Most ethical issues and arguments are against both egg donation and surrogacy more so because of their impact on children and the issue of human dignity, however, the right to have a child ought to be as much of an absolute as the right to life.
Ethical Issues
The first ethical issue relates to the sanctity of a human being who ought to have a well-defined identity. The process of egg donation and surrogacy entails decisions made by the parties involved under the superintendence of the law. However, no one represents the child in the decision-making process. In the end, the identity of the child is questionable as instead of being a child born of two parents with a definite identity, the child becomes the subtotal of the parties involved. In the case of egg donation, the child may never know the source of 50% of its DNA. In the case of surrogacy, the child loses the connection created through 9 months of gestation. This is extremely unfair to the child who has no choice in the matter (Blake et al, 2016) .
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The second ethical issue relates to the exchange of money between the different parties involved in the transaction. In many cases, money is paid both to egg donors as well as surrogate parents. The processes involved in fertilization and implantation of the fetus are also extremely expensive thus making them a reserve of the financially secure. Therefore, whereas the right to procreate is universal, egg donation and surrogacy makes it a privilege for only those who can afford it. Further, parenthood, which is a noble undertaking has been commercialized to the extent that there are egg donation and surrogacy agencies that even practice cutthroat competition. This makes the processes of egg donation and surrogacy ethically wrong (Kenney & McGovan, 2014) .
In spite of the ethical challenges outlined, it would be a manifest unfairness to deny a willing parent the chance to become one simply because of the challenges involved. Further, it would also be extremely unfair for a person who has had the privilege of being a parent to be allowed to make rules for the minority who cannot. An overwhelming majority of the global population is capable of procreating naturally without the need for assisted reproductive technology (ART). It is this overwhelming majority that makes laws and also indulges in ethical arguments about how right or wrong egg donation and surrogacy is. In spite of the ethical challenges many of which can be streamlined, the rights of a minority ought to be considered on an affirmative action perspective hence Norway should legalize egg donation and surrogacy but under strict rules.
References
Blake, L., Carone, N., Slutsky, J., Raffanello, E., Ehrhardt, A. A., & Golombok, S. (2016). Gay father surrogacy families: relationships with surrogates and egg donors and parental disclosure of children's origins. Fertility and Sterility , 106 (6), 1503-1509
Kenney, N. J., & McGovan, M. L. (2014). Egg donation compensation: ethical and legal challenges. Development , 9 , 11-13
Thompson, C. (2016). IVF global histories, USA: Between Rock and a marketplace. Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online , 2 , 128-135
