What Is The Process Of Surrogacy? All You Need To Know
Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : August 16, 2022Surrogacy is a form of pregnancy. Under Surrogacy, a woman carries and gives birth to the baby for another woman.
Surrogacy: How Does It Work?
When a woman is unable to undergo normal pregnancy for any reason surrogacy will be extremely helpful and this process has helped many people to experience parenthood. Surrogacy has been blooming lately as many parents have started opting for it.
A woman’s egg is fertilized with the sperm of a donor to create an embryo. This fertilization process is done through medical procedures. Surrogacy can be performed either traditionally or gestationally. Under traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother’s eggs will be fertilized with the father’s sperm. In this case, the child’s biological mother will be the surrogate mother.
Under Gestational surrogacy, the eggs of the mother and sperm of the father will be fertilized before placing in the embryo of the surrogate woman, who will have no biological link to the child.
If you want to have a baby via surrogacy you will have to follow the legal process stated by the government. To avoid any legal problems regarding who will have the child post surrogacy, both the intended parents and the surrogate mother have to sign an agreement.
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Families normally use a surrogacy agency to find a suitable carrier. Many factors will be considered by the matching and legal teams of the surrogacy agency to determine the best suitable surrogate woman for the intended parents. Some of these factors include the state in which the surrogate woman lives, insurance, and matching preferences as required by the parents.
Once the agency finds a match it will exchange information about the intended parents and the surrogate woman with one another except for the identity information. Only after both parties have expressed their interest to proceed with the surrogacy a match call will be arranged for the surrogate woman and the parents so that they could get to know each other.
After approval from the surrogate woman and the parents, medical screening of the surrogate woman will be conducted by an IVF physician. If the surrogate woman fails to pass the medical screening, a new match will be provided to the parents free of charge by the agency itself. In this medical screening, the potential surrogate has to meet a fertility specialist and do a Saline sonogram to assess the interior of the uterus.
Then a mock embryo transfer will be made to ensure the catheter can be smoothly inserted. Thereafter a transvaginal ultrasound will be made to assess the structure of the ovaries and the Uterus of the surrogate. In special cases, a breast mammogram will also be required. If the surrogate has passed all the above-mentioned procedures, an obstetrician who will manage her pregnancy will consult with her and a legal contract will thereby be prepared for both the intended parents and the surrogate woman for signing.
Before placing the embryo in the surrogate woman’s uterus, medication will be provided to her to suppress ovulation, to prevent her from ovulating her egg during the cycle. This process will be followed by estrogen and it will take a minimum of two weeks. This is done to make the uterine lining thicker. Once this lining thickens the surrogate will be exposed to progesterone. The embryo will be placed in the uterus after five days of exposure to progesterone. Progesterone will help in maturing the lining and making it receptive to the embryo.
The surrogacy laws differ between every country and the surrogacy laws are made available on the website of the Legal Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (LPG) and Family Inceptions. International surrogacies are also permitted and have separate rules.
References:
🟢Webmd(2005-2022)Using a Surrogate Mother: What You Need to Know(Available Online):https://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/guide/using-surrogate-mother
🟢Betterhealth(2021)Surrogacy(Available Online):https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/surrogacy
With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.