It is widely understood that stem cell treatments have the
potential to revolutionize medicine. Because of this potential,
in 2004 California voters approved Proposition 71 to set up a
10-year, $3 billion program to fund research on stem cells.
Under the direction of the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine, this program will pay to build facilities for stem
cell research and will fund doctors and scientists to carry out
research with the ultimate goal of helping to develop therapies
based on stem cells. For this research to move forward, however,
will require a steady supply of stem cells, particularly human
embryonic stem cells. Those stem cells are collected from
developing human embryos created from eggs—or oocytes—harvested
from the ovaries of female donors. Thus much of the promise of
stem cells depends on women choosing to donate oocytes to the
research effort. The oocyte donation process is not without
risk, however. Donors are given doses of hormones to trigger the
production of more eggs t