I thought one of the big ethical problems with IVF was a SURPLUS of eggs and embryos harvested from the mother that would have to be stored in a deep freeze or eventually killed to avoid storage fees. There should be plenty of eggs/embryos in need of a womb.
The surplus of embryos is a real (ethical) problem.
But there is no surplus of unfertilized ova. I see no ethical dilemma in discarding surplus ova - just as I see no ethical dilemma in a 13-year-old boy "discarding" excess sperm.
I suppose that, in some fertility clinics, the women undergoing fertility treatments might sometimes be asked if they'd like to donate their unused ova - just as some men donate sperm in sperm banks. But since it's the lowest-quality ova that are discarded, perhaps there's no market for them.
These women in the West undergoing fertility treatments are often already in their forties - so their eggs are no longer Grade A to begin with.
Any unused embryos are likewise probably viewed as "not up to snuff" and therefore unceremoniously flushed down the toilet - which I view with ethical horror.
Regards,