Here’s an ad that appeared in the campus newspaper at the Ivy League university where I teach (I’ve done them a favor of correcting some of the punctuation):
EGG DONORS NEEDED
$20,000 (PLUS ALL EXPENSES). We are seeking women who are attractive, under the age of 29, non-smoker, SAT 1300+, physically fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you have a desire to help an infertile family and would like more information, please contact us….”
$20K? SAT 1300+. The ad preceding that one requested a donor who is “slim” and “over 5′3″” They should both have read,
Do you want to help out a rich and picky picky infertile couple?
I was aghast at many items in these ads, but the 1300+ SAT thing really stuck out with me. I have been a professor at two Ivy League universities (Yale and Brown, from which I graduated), and my SATs are wayyyyy below that. It struck me that although I am supposedly qualified to teach these students my eggs don’t pass muster: they aren’t “smart” enough for this couple!
I’m wondering, do these couples also have SATs of 1300-plus? Or, are they trading up with their egg purchase (pay more, get more). If they’re that smart, it also seems they would know that intelligence is a lot more than genes: there’s environment, motivation, parental guidance, schools, etc.
Also, the over-reliance on test scores is a bit creepy (and it begs the questions, what if their SAT 1300-plus eggs yield a Down syndrome child? Do you demand your money back?). To wit: my colleague at Brown was a refugee from China, she came over to America at 12, had to help raise the family while her mother worked as a maid, and her SAT English scores were a bit on the lower side for the college she wanted to go to, Stanford. They did let her in, but with some trepidation and finger wagging–to a person who had to learn English in a few short years!
To add icing to this cake, she is of the same cohort of our current President, and her English scores are considerably higher than his. And he’s a person for whom English is not a second language (we presume).
Thus, going back to the egg metaphor, I can only say (sorry about the pun), Doesn’t that beat all?
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