To think I should be able to sell body parts if desperate

[SkinnedAlive]

Some body parts such as eggs, sperm, blood and plasma can be sold. Other more valuable parts such as liver and kidney cannot. Why one rule for one part and one rule for another? There will always be people who desperately need a transplant but cannot get one. There will always be others who desperately need money and cannot get it. Why should free trade be suspended? As someone desperate for money to fund my education, I would happily sell a kidney (medical student so do know the pros and cons).

Discuss

Because of the cost to the NHS?

Well, you'd die without your liver. That's why you can't sell it!!

The right lobe of the liver can be taken from a living donor.......

And these would be fully funded private ops so no cost to NHS. Leaving the avaliable 'free' organs for people who cannot afford to 'buy an organ?

Liver regenerates. You can lose quite a large percentage and still function..

Because of the potential for exploitation?

tescobodyparts.com

because they don't "regenerate"? no lasting impact from giving blood or sperm (your body makes more) whereas a kidney...

your body continues to make eggs blood and plasma but not a kidney or a liver

and while you can manage with only parts of either organ its not ideal

what would be a good is if they did away with organ donor cards and instead have an opt out system instead, where those who dont want to donate their organs can opt out making more organs available

But why would anybody give e.g. A kidney etc through NHS when they could be paid? Imagine v quickly there would become some sort of insurance policies, when you die your family will receive a payout for your organs etc.

Is this the Tory HQ person canvassing opinions again?

Fucking poor people, with their functioning livers and kindneys!

Because only the rich would be able to have transplants??

Because it would quickly descend into horrible exploitation and poor people all over the UK would rapidly die out and...wait, Dave is that you?

No fucking way! IMHO
I speak as someone who's DH, BILs and DN have all required transplants.
This a life-altering act, as is donation which should be altruistic.
Donation may end up as the preserve of the desperate and transplants reserved for the rich.

Chinese make a nice living out of it - mobile death vans with a prerequiste for organs to order. Quite "popular" for private trade too

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13639934

A teenager in China has sold one of his kidneys in order to buy an iPad 2, Chinese media report.

The 17-year-old, identified only as Little Zheng, told a local TV station he had arranged the sale of the kidney over the internet.

The story only came to light after the teenager's mother became suspicious.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1165416/Chinas-hi-tech-death-van-criminals-executed-organs-sold-black-market.html

According to undercover investigations by human rights' groups, the police, judiciary and doctors are all involved in making millions from China's huge trade in human body parts.

Inside each 'death van' there is a dedicated team of doctors to 'harvest' the organs of the deceased. The injections leave the body intact and in pristine condition for such lucrative work.

After checking that the victim is dead, the medical team first remove the eyes. Then, wearing surgical gowns and masks, they remove the kidney, liver, pancreas and lungs.

Little goes to waste, though the heart cannot be used, having been poisoned by the drugs.

The organs are dispatched in ice boxes to hospitals in the sprawling cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which have developed another specialist trade: selling the harvested organs.

www.traffickingproject.org/2008/02/organ-trafficking-exposed-in-india.html

Trade in human organs is banned in India but many continue to sell their kidneys to clients, including Westerners, waiting for transplants.

Of course yabu.

No one should have to sell bits of their bodies because their poverty is so bad.

The solution is to ensure that no-one ever needs to resort to that, not to accept that as some people are desperate so they can sell their kidney to richer people. We need a society where people just aren't that desperate.

Maybe you should have to donate something before you can receive benefits?
The Tories would love that.

On a more serious note, I would vote for an opt-out system.

Well I am just someone about to give up their degree half way through as I can't afford to continue - so not a tory!!! When I had money I would have said no way, people would be exploited. Now I am facing losing everything I value in life, my views are somewhat changed and I would be happy to be 'exploited' if I could finish my degree and get a job I enjoyed. However the illegality in pretty much every country except for Iran renders it not an feasible option.

sell to iran then?

no its a very bad idea. governments cant manage financial crisis, can you imagine how badly wrong it would get it should we be allowed to sell bits.

YABU for saying 'Discuss' like that. That is all.

I think that although you are an educated individual who fully understands the risks and benefits; many who would be tempted by the money may not fully understand the implications.

Do you not think the fact that it's illegal everywhere is telling you something OP, i.e. that it's immoral?

tbh, things that are illegal everywhere except Iran are probably not such a great thing.

I think going on the game would be a more pragmatic approach to selling ones body.

But you can sell your organs if you choose to do so.

A "friend" of mine bought his new kidney in South Africa.

Avocado raises a good point, OP would you be willing to prostitute yourself to raise money for your studies? If not what is the fundamental difference between "hiring out" part of your body for someone's use and selling a part permanently?

The fact is that if your idea was implemented, desperate people like you would end up damaging themselves permanently in order to fix a temporary financial problem. The idea that the poor could choose to have bits of themselves chopped out and sold to the rich is disgusting, it should never be legalised.

I can't understand where you're coming from tbh. Is this really the best way you can think of to alleviate the poverty students are faced with? Would you not prefer to lobby for better bursaries and investment in our young people instead of suggesting that maybe the disadvantaged could SELL PEICES OF THEMSELVES to afford to pay their bills? It seems a very extreme reaction to me.

Everyone, rich and poor, deserves to not have their own BODY counted as something they could sell to get themselves out of trouble, society should be doing a better job than that of looking after the disadvantaged.

YABtotallyU