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Jul 17, 2018 · 1. Introduction. Over the last decades, infertility has become a matter that the majority of infertile couples choose to address. Surrogacy has revolutionized the standing options within the assisted reproduction field, enabling the gestation and birth of child by another woman—the surrogate mother—relinquishing the child after birth to the commissioning parents [1–3].
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Jan 16, 2024 · The Life of a Surrogate. The life of a surrogate is marked by a unique blend of altruism and the profound impact of assisting others in their journey to parenthood. From the initial decision to explore surrogacy, surrogates embark on a comprehensive process that involves thorough screenings, interviews, and matching with Intended Parents.
Jun 20, 2018 · Harlow’s work showed that infants also turned to inanimate surrogate mothers for comfort when they were faced with new and scary situations. When placed in a novel environment with a surrogate mother, infant monkeys would explore the area, run back to the surrogate mother when startled, and then venture out to explore again.
- Overview
- Why choose surrogacy?
- Types of surrogacy
- How to find a surrogate
- Criteria for becoming a surrogate
- How it happens, step-by-step
- How much is this going to cost?
- Legal issues to consider
- Unanticipated issues with surrogacy
- A note to those considering being a surrogate
What do Kim Kardashian, Sarah Jessica Parker, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jimmy Fallon have in common? They’re all famous — that’s true. But they’ve also all used gestational surrogates to grow their families.
As these celebrities know, there are many ways to have children these days. And as technology advances, so do the options. More and more people are turning to surrogacy.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage. The old song sure leaves a lot out, doesn’t it?
Well, surrogacy can help fill in some of those details for the 12 to 15 percent of couples experiencing infertility issues — as well as for others who want to have biological children and are in other situations.
There are many reasons people choose surrogacy:
•Health issues prevent a woman from getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term.
•Infertility issues prevent couples from either getting or staying pregnant, like recurrent miscarriages.
•Same-sex couples wish to have children. This may be two men, but women also find this option attractive because the egg and resulting embryo from one partner can be transferred and carried by the other partner.
The term “surrogacy” is generally used to describe a couple different scenarios.
•A gestational carrier carries a pregnancy for an individual or couple using an egg that is not the carrier’s. The egg may come from either the intended mother or a donor. Likewise, sperm may come from the intended father or a donor. Pregnancy is achieved through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
•A traditional surrogate both donates her own egg and carries a pregnancy for an individual or couple. The pregnancy is usually achieved through intrauterine insemination (IUI) with sperm from the intended father. Donor sperm may also be used.
According to the Southern Surrogacy agency, gestational carriers are now more common than traditional surrogates. Why is this? Since a traditional surrogate donates her own egg, she is technically also the biological mother of the child.
Some people find a friend or family member who’s willing to serve as a surrogate. Others turn to surrogacy agencies — in the United States or abroad — to find a good match. Agencies first screen candidates to ensure they meet the criteria associated with the process. Then they cross-match your own wants/needs to find the best situation for your family.
Don’t know where to start? Nonprofit group Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy (SEEDS) was created to review and maintain ethical issues surrounding egg donation and surrogacy. The group maintains a member directory that may help you find agencies in your area.
The qualifications for being a gestational surrogate vary by agency, but they involve things like:
•Age. Candidates must be between the ages of 21 and 45 years old. Again, the specific range varies by location.
•Reproductive background. They also have to have carried at least one pregnancy — without complications — to term but have fewer than five vaginal deliveries and two cesarean sections.
•Lifestyle. Surrogates must live in a supportive home environment, as confirmed by a home study. Drug and alcohol abuse are other considerations.
•Tests. Additionally, potential surrogates must have a mental health screening, a complete physical — including screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Intended parents have certain requirements to meet as well. These involve:
Once you’ve found a surrogate, achieving pregnancy differs depending on what type of surrogate you use.
With gestational carriers, the process looks something like this:
1.Choose a surrogate, usually through an agency.
2.Create a legal contract and have it reviewed.
3.Go through the egg retrieval process (if using intended mother’s eggs) or obtain donor eggs. Create embryos using intended father’s sperm or donor sperm.
4.Transfer embryos to the gestational carrier (surrogate) and then — if it sticks — follow the pregnancy. If it doesn’t work out, the intended parents and surrogate may pursue another IVF cycle.
The costs associated with surrogacy depending on the type and where you live. In general, the costs for a gestational carrier may fall somewhere between $90,000 and $130,000 when you take into account the compensation, health care costs, legal fees and other situations that may arise.
The West Coast Surrogacy Agency, based throughout California, lists its costs in detail on its website and explains that these fees can change without notice.
There aren’t any federal laws surrounding surrogacy. Instead, the laws that apply depend on the state in which you live. Legal issues may arise when one parent is biologically related to a child and the other isn’t — even if the surrogate is not biologically related.
Traditional surrogacy — when the surrogate is also the biological mother — can be particularly complicated. Among other issues, you may need to secure what’s called a pre-birth order to be listed as a parent on the birth certificate when the baby is born. Some states may not allow this, even if they don’t have laws against traditional surrogacy. This means the non-biological parent(s) may need to go through adoption proceedings.
No matter the scenario, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that the surrogate and the intended parents arrange for independent legal representation with lawyers who have experience with surrogacy.
Related: Lawsuit filed by surrogate mother raises new legal, moral issues
When planning surrogacy, everything may seem quite straightforward. However, it’s important to note that as with most things in life, there are opportunities for issues to arise and make things tricky.
Some considerations:
•IVF or IUI isn’t a guarantee of pregnancy. Sometimes these procedures don’t work on the first or even subsequent tries. You may need several cycles to achieve pregnancy.
•We don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer here. But another consideration is that even if pregnancy occurs, miscarriages are possible.
•Just as with the traditional pregnancy-to-parenthood path, there is always a chance for health issues with the baby or complications with the surrogate or actual birth.
•Pregnancy with IVF and IUI may result in multiples — twins or triplets.
There are various ways that being a surrogate may make sense in your lifestyle. You may find the money appealing or feel fulfilled giving a couple something they may not be able to achieve without your help.
Still, it’s a big decision. The Family Inceptions Agency outlines a few things to consider before applying to be a surrogate.
•You’ll need to meet all the minimum requirements — including those regarding age, health status, reproductive history, and psychological status — that may vary by agency.
•You’ll need to be OK with giving up control during the pregnancy. While it’s your body, what happens during the pregnancy isn’t entirely up to you. This involves things like testing that you may not choose for yourself but that the intended parents may wish to undergo.
•You’ll also need to think about the process itself. Getting pregnant via IVF takes a number procedures and medications. Consider how you’ll feel about taking injectable and oral drugs and hormones.
•You’ll want to consider if your own family is complete. Do you want more children? Understand that with each pregnancy and with advancing age, more risks for complications can arise that might impact your fertility.
- Ashley Marcin
Surrogacy is when a woman, called a surrogate mother, carries a pregnancy for you and your partner because you’re unable to — perhaps because you can't sustain a pregnancy, don't have a uterus or have a medical condition that makes pregnancy dangerous or impossible. (The word "surrogate" means "substitite.")
Also called a surrogate, a gestational carrier is a woman who carries and delivers a child for a couple or individual. Surrogate mothers are impregnated through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). In this process, doctors create an embryo by fertilizing eggs from the intended mother or an egg donor with sperm from the intended father or a ...
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[Show full abstract] placed in a novel environment or threatened with a strange object, these monkeys appeared to derive comfort from the cloth surrogate / concluded that this effect could not be ...
