Chandler Sherman wrote a very interesting and thoughtful piece on reproductive medicine, and the rights of the children. Among other things this is being said:

Enabling women to have children so long after menopause is cheating evolution. Nature made women stop being able to reproduce for a reason, perhaps because an elderly mother cannot provide adequate maternal care, or because the mother may not live long enough to care for a child for 18 years.

He refers to cases where women in their 60s still conceive a child with the help of egg donation. And I think he made a good point there. At age 60, you should have come to grips with the fact that it’s too late to give birth to a child and raise it.  The chances that such a child will lose his or her parents early in life are just too high. Apart of that, I also wonder what mental and emotional state these women (and men) must be in, in order to take such drastic matters so that they can “get a child”.

He also makes a point about the qualifications that are sometimes requested of an egg donor (such as religious or racial issues), although I have to say I would side with the parents here. If you are deeply religious, it might be of high importance to you that the egg donor shares your religious views. If you are Japanese, it might be highly important to you that your child “looks like you” – Japanese, and not Caucasian, and thus you’re looking for a Japanese egg donor.