All you Need to know about Surrogacy

Surrogacy has come up as the latest and most innovative fertility solutions for the couples who cannot have a baby because of absence of uterus or when the uterus is not in a good condition to carry the pregnancy in a normal and safe manner. it involves a woman who acts as a surrogate mother and carries and delivers the baby for the couple, and the pregnancy is carried on a legal basis with the cost of pregnancy borne by the intended parents, the couple being treated with surrogacy.

Types of Surrogate Mothers

There are two different techniques used for surrogacy and accordingly, surrogate mothers are classified into two categories:

Traditional Surrogates

Traditional surrogates are the surrogate mothers who are made to conceive with the technique of artificial insemination. The sperm of the father is transferred in the uterus of the surrogate and she carries the baby and delivers it for the couple. The surrogate mother is not the genetic mother of the baby and the couple makes the genetic parents. After the baby is born, the custody is legally handed over to the couple by the surrogate mother.

Gestational Surrogate

A gestational surrogate is the one who is impregnated with the fertilized embryo created by combining the egg and sperm of the intended parents and making use of IVF technique for this purpose. The embryo is carried by the surrogate in her uterus but she is not the genetic mother of the baby, which is the why the gestational mother is known as the birth mother while the woman whose egg is used for the pregnancy is the biological mother of the baby.

Out of these two types of surrogacy, the latter is being used more commonly because it has lesser legal implications since the intended parents are also the biological patents of the child.

When is surrogacy used as a fertility treatment?

Surrogacy is a complicated fertility treatment, which is not used commonly and comes up as the feasible option in the following cases:

• The woman has had her uterus removed due to some medical issues.
• Her uterus is not in a condition to bear the brunt of a pregnancy.
• The woman who wants to get pregnant is beyond the age when she can bear and deliver a baby safely.
• Some other medical conditions such as heart disease make pregnancy risky for the woman.
• Other assisted reproductive techniques have failed to yield result and surrogacy needs to be used as the last resort.
• Gay couples also have to take up the services of a surrogate mother in case they want to start a family of their own. They would have to use traditional surrogacy or get an egg donor to provide the egg for gestational pregnancy.

Another important issue in surrogacy is to find the right woman to act as the surrogate mother. While a friend or relative may volunteer for some couples, others would have to find someone through a surrogacy agency. While it is a matter of mutual understanding with someone known acting as the surrogate, the process is covered by a legal contract in the latter case, and all the costs are to be covered by the intended parents. The surrogate mother has to be of the right age, medically fit and willing to take the responsibility of pregnancy, in addition to agreeing to legally handing over the baby to the intended parents after the birth. The couple must also be aware of the costs to be undertaken for surrogacy before making the decision to use it as the fertility treatment technique.