Have you ever thought how can someone start a family, when they are not being able to conceive a child?
Well, thanks to today’s advanced medicine and technology, anyone can have a baby and start a family.
Surrogacy has become quite common recently, with almost 1000-1500 births per year in the world.
Surrogacy is a legal arrangement in which a woman (the surrogate) agrees to bear a child for another person or couple who will become the child’s parent(s) after delivery. Surrogacy is an assisted reproduction procedure.
Reasons for surrogacy
A surrogacy arrangement may be considered if:
- a woman is unable to become pregnant because she has had a hysterectomy or is missing part of her uterus, ovaries or other parts of the genital tract
- a woman has a health condition that makes pregnancy risky.
- a same-sex couple wish to have a child using the sperm/egg of one or the other partner
- a single man/woman wishes to have a child using his sperm/egg.
- a woman dies with frozen embryos in storage and her male partner wishes to use the embryos to have a child.
Methods
Surrogacy can be traditional or gestational, depending on the genetic origin of the egg. Traditional surrogacy is less prevalent than gestational surrogacy.
Traditional
A traditional surrogacy is one in which the surrogate’s egg is fertilised by the sperm of the intended father or a donor.
Insemination of the surrogate can be either through natural insemination or artificial insemination. Using the sperm of a donor results in a child who is not genetically related to the intended father. If the biological father’s sperm is used in the insemination, the resulting child is genetically related to both the intended father and the surrogate.
Now, before we move onto gestational surrogacy, let’s have an overview about IVF.
IVF (In-viro fertilization)
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a method of fertilization in which an egg is stored in a laboratory to fertilize with sperm (“in glass”). The procedure entails monitoring a person’s ovulation, taking an ovum or ova from their ovaries, and allowing the sperms to fertilize them in a laboratory culture medium. The fertilized egg (zygote) is put in the person’s uterus after embryo culture for 2–6 days, until it has at least 8 cells or the zygote becomes a blastocyst, with the goal of generating a viable pregnancy.
Gestational
The first gestational surrogacy was achieved in April 1986. It takes place when an embryo created by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is implanted in a surrogate. There are numerous types of gestational surrogacy, and the resulting kid is genetically unrelated to the surrogate in each case:
- The embryo is created using the biological father’s sperm and the biological mother’s eggs;
- The embryo is created using the biological father’s sperm and a donor egg;
- The embryo is created using the biological mother’s egg and donor sperm;
- A donor embryo is transferred to a surrogate.
Surprising Facts About Surrogacy
- The ideal surrogate has been pregnant before.
- It’s quite expensive.
- Surrogates go through a trial run before the real deal.
- Carriers can be surrogates more than one time.
- It’s done for medical reasons, not vanity.
- A surrogate can be a friend or complete stranger.
- You can choose the sex of your baby.
- There’s no additional risk to the fetus during surrogacy.
Busted Myths!
- Surrogacy is only for the wealthy or celebrities.
- A woman will opt for surrogacy to save her figure or avoid pregnancy.
- The surrogate may try to take on parental custody of the child.
- Parents will have trouble bonding with their baby.
- You don’t need a legal agreement to use a surrogate.
Piya Singh
©BioSaga 2021
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