The use of donor eggs in assisted reproductive technology (ART) has increased rapidly since the first birth following the use of this technology to a woman experiencing primary ovarian failure in 1983. In 2011 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), 18,530 ART cycles in the India involved the use of donor eggs. That represents 13.9% of all ART cycles, up from approximately 8% in 1995, the first year such data were collected. In 2011, 7,902 live births resulted from the use of donor eggs. National statistics do not indicate either the number of donors or the number of recipients involved in the process. Equivalent global statistics are difficult to compile due to variable mechanisms for tracking and presenting oocyte donation practices across jurisdictions. While the benefits of oocyte donation in assisting reproduction of women who are unable to produce eggs are clear, many aspects of oocyte procurement and use remain controversial. Indeed, with the introduction of egg donation for research and cryopreservation of eggs, the controversies are increasing. This paper will focus specifically on the controversies surrounding the legality and morality of various forms of payment for egg donation, including direct reimbursement for financial expenses incurred by participating in donation, compensation for time, discomfort, and inconvenience, reward for participating in donation that goes beyond compensation, and purchase of eggs. Apart from a nearly universal perspective that oocytes should not be purchased and sold as commodities, no consensus has been reached on appropriate recompense for egg donors. Major issues in this debate include the relative acceptability of monetary payment versus payment in the form of reduced fees for other reproductive services (often as a result of egg or sperm sharing) and the factors to be considered in determining the just compensation for the time, pain, discomfort, and potential physical risk egg donors face in this process. The effects of legal interventions imposed in various national contexts on the availability of this technology, the influence of egg cryopreservation, and the use of donated eggs for research rather than reproduction are discussed.