Surrogacy is when a woman carries a baby for a couple who are unable to conceive or carry a child themselves. It should never be forgotten that this is an extraordinary act of giving on the part of the surrogate mother and her family – and this should be celebrated.
Usually the intended mother cannot conceive, or carry a child to term, due to a medical problem. Common reasons why Intended Parents may look at surrogacy are:
- Recurrent miscarriage in spite of all possible treatment
- Repeated failure of IVF treatment
- Premature menopause, often as a result of cancer treatment
- A hysterectomy, or an absent or abnormal uterus
Overview
There are two types of surrogacy- traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. In traditional surrogacy, a surrogate mother is artificially inseminated, either by the intended father or an anonymous donor, and carries the baby to term. The child is thereby genetically related to both the surrogate mother, who provides the egg, and the intended father or anonymous donor.
In gestational surrogacy, an egg is removed from the intended mother or an anonymous donor and fertilized with the sperm of the intended father or anonymous donor. The fertilized egg, or embryo, is then transferred to a surrogate who carries the baby to term. The child is thereby genetically related to the woman who donated the egg and the intended father or sperm donor, but not the surrogate. Some lesbian couples find gestational surrogacy attractive because it permits one woman to contribute her egg and the other to carry the child.
Surrogacy Qualifications
Most surrogacy agencies and fertility clinics require surrogates to meet the following general qualifications:
- Be in good physical and mental health;
- Have carried and delivered at least one child;
- Have had pregnancies that were all free of complications and were full-term;
- Be less than 43 years of age;
- Be in a stable living situation;
- Not smoke or abuse alcohol.
To become pregnant, a woman must first produce a healthy egg. But some women have poor quality eggs or no eggs at all. It’s difficult for these women to become pregnant or carry their pregnancies to term. While adoption is the viable option, some women consider other reproductive options, including the use of egg donor.
