Choosing to have a baby through a surrogate is a life-changing decision for both surrogates and intended parents. Whether you’re thinking about becoming a surrogate yourself, or are an intended parent, we hope that this surrogacy 101 guide will serve as a helpful resource to you.
What is Surrogacy?: The Basics
At its most basic level, as Vocabulary.com notes, a surrogate is “someone who takes the place of another person”.
When most people talk about surrogacy, they are discussing the practice of having a baby via a surrogate mother, “a process in which a woman carries and delivers a child for a couple or individual”, according to Yale Medicine.
This type of surrogacy empowers anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to have a baby via heterosexual intercourse and traditional pregnancy to start a family of their own.
The Benefits of Surrogacy for Intended Parents vs Surrogate Mothers
For Intended Parents: Commonly considered as an alternative to adoption, surrogacy allows intended parents to have biological children and share DNA with their babies.
For Surrogate Mothers: It can also be extremely rewarding for surrogate mothers, both as a way to give back and make a difference in someone’s life, as well as as a means of financial empowerment. After all, in our culture and society, mothers (especially stay-at-home mothers) are so often undervalued and underappreciated for the childrearing work they do, especially when returning to work.
How Does Surrogacy Work: Traditional vs. Gestational
The two types of surrogacy, traditional and gestational, are made possible through artificial insemination and in-vitro fertilization (IVF), respecitvely.
Here’s an overview of how traditional vs. gestational surrogacy differ, process-wise, provided by WebMD.
Traditional Surrogacy
A traditional surrogate is “a woman who gets artificially inseminated with the father’s sperm. They then carry the baby and deliver it for you and your partner to raise. A traditional surrogate is the baby’s biological mother. That’s because it was their egg that was fertilized by the father’s sperm. Donor sperm can also be used.”
Gestational Surrogacy
IVF “…makes it possible to gather eggs from the mother (or an egg donor), fertilize them with sperm from the father (or a sperm donor), and place the embryo into the uterus of a gestational surrogate. The surrogate then carries the baby until birth. They don’t have any genetic ties to the child because it wasn’t their egg that was used.”
Gestational Surrogacy: The Process
The surrogacy process is neither cheap, nor is it short. Setting expectations for you and your significant other ahead of time (not to mention budgeting) is important. Major steps/milestones in the gestational surrogacy process in particular include:
- Medical and psychological screening of the gestational carrier
- Embryo transfer
- Pregnancy
That being said, surrogacy generally takes between 15-18 months, on average.
Learn More
Whether you are an intended parent or would-be surrogate mother, if you are interested in learning more about surrogacy and whether it’s right for you, we can help here at Simple Steps Fertility.
Reach out with any questions you may have or to request additional information about surrogacy with us.
We also work with egg donors!