A growing number Korean women are showing their intention to donate their ova for stem cell research amid a controversy over the in-house egg donation at professor Hwang Woo-suk’s lab.

An Internet fan cafe for professor Hwang Tuesday conveyed the willingness of over 1,000 women to donate their ova for the research, expressing their support of the South Korean cloning pioneer.

Members of an online cafe “I love Hwang Woo-suk” stand in line in front of the veterinary medicine college building at Seoul National University.

The online community, named ``I love Hwang Woo-suk (http://cafe.daum.net/ilovehws),’’ has said that the number of women who promised to donate their eggs through the cafe and other organizations surpassed the 1,000 mark.

About 100 members of the cafe Tuesday held a ceremony at Seoul National University’s veterinary medical college to celebrate the 1,000th donation and encourage Hwang to return to his research. Hwang left his lab after holding a briefing where he admitted to the in-house egg donations last month.

The participants _ women who promised to donate their eggs _ wrote their names and supporting messages for Hwang on an artificial rose of Sharon, and gave the flowers to Hwang’s office.

They also distributed artificial azaleas from the entrance of the college building to Hwang’s office in the form of a carpet, in order to symbolize their wish for Hwang to return to his work soon.

``The rose of Sharon, the national flower, symbolizes the ovum, the life of the nation. We organized the ceremony to show our willingness to donate eggs so that Hwang can continue the research,’’ Kim Yi-hyun, operator of the cafe which has 47,000 members, told The Korea Times.
Kim said the number of women who have applied for ova donation with the community is far more than 1,000 when those who are not eligible for egg donation due to age or health are included.

An ova donation support foundation, which was officially inaugurated on Monday, has also been cooperating with the online cafe.

The cafe received application from would-be-donors through the Internet on behalf of the People’s Foundation for the Donation of Ova for Research and Therapeutic Purposes, before the foundation opened its Web site.

The foundation will generally manage the applications collected through the cafe and other organizations.

``Egg donation is not only a personal matter but an essential one for the development of science and for mankind. Hwang’s research is really important for incurable illnesses such as spinal cord injury, which anybody can get through an accident,’’ Kim said.

She added the community will continue encouraging women to donate their eggs, especially married women in their 20s and 30s who have already had babies, as the society does not encourage egg donations from unmarried women.

``We hope the recent scandal will not hamper Hwang’s study or the future of science students’,’’ Kim said.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr




[News Source : Korea Times 0000-00-00]

Kim Rahn