Surrogacy is an assisted reproduction process where the intended parents partner with a surrogate to carry their child in her womb until birth. Intended parents utilize surrogacy to build or start their families when their capabilities are being limited by certain circumstances and situations. Before the carrier takes on the task, there are rigorous surrogate qualifications that she has to go through. Surrogacy is a year-long process that can be stressful if the intended parents do not fully understand the journey ahead of them.
The first and least common type of surrogacy is traditional surrogacy. In this case, the intended father would donate his sperm to be inserted into the surrogate’s egg. Since the egg used in the process comes from the surrogate, this means that she is the child’s biological and birth mother. For the intended mother to have custody of the child, she needs to legally adopt the child. The intended father who donated the sperm is the child’s biological father. In the case that the intended father cannot donate his sperm, a sperm bank donor will be utilized. It is not common due to the emotional and legal complications brought by these procedures.
The second, most common, and more appealing type of surrogacy is called gestational surrogacy. It is a method that would need legal and medical expertise to help the intended parents navigate the system. They also need a strong support system when going through this process.
In the gestational procedure, an in-Vitro fertilization or IVF process is deployed. In the IVF process, the embryos are made in a laboratory at a fertility clinic. Sometimes the intended parents utilize their genetic material for the process. This means the intended mother could let the medical experts use her egg and insert it into the surrogate, while the intended father can donate his sperm. If the intended parents cannot provide their genetic material, they can still proceed with the process through donors. The surrogate has no biological relations to the child since her egg is not used in the process. One to two embryos created at the lab will be implanted into the gestational surrogate who will carry one or more babies to full-term pregnancy.
Why should couples choose surrogacy?
Surrogacy gives opportunities for individuals and couples to build their families. Surrogacy helps people to have their children no matter what their ages, sexual orientations, backgrounds, and health status. Most intended parents can be:
- Single people who want to have a child of their own.
- Intended parents who have a health condition or genetic defect that they do not want to pass to their child.
- Heterosexual couples who are struggling with infertility issues or risky pregnancies.
- Intended mothers who cannot carry a child.
- Same-sex intended parents.
Intended Parents Are Advised To Partner With A Reliable Agency
Building a family through surrogacy is a fulfilling and emotional path to parenthood. Intended parents place their trust in the process as they invest their hard-earned money in the hopes of building a family. Some couples tend to do the process independently. However, those who are not fully acquainted with the process will have difficulty doing it independently.
Partnering with an agency helps intended parents have a partnership, support system, and expertise that will be difficult to acquire on their own. An agency has access to surrogates, a legal team, medical experts, and fertility laboratories. Working with a surrogacy agency helps intended parents to have a more relaxed surrogacy journey.
How can surrogacy have an impact on surrogate mothers?
Anyone choosing to become a surrogate knows that it is a life-changing journey. Surrogate mothers are selfless and generous in their bid to help other families have their children. Many surrogates have formed lasting bonds with the intended parents and even remain part of the family’s life even after the baby is born.
A surrogate applicant must be fully prepared when deciding to go through with the process. There are rigid surrogate qualifications that have to be met. Not everyone can be a surrogate as some requirements and qualifications must be met before the process moves into the next phases of the journey.
Surrogates must pass the surrogate qualifications of surrogacy agencies. They must be physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy. Every agency has its requirements but most of their lists would be similar. The universal requirement for every surrogate is that she must have a previous successful full-term pregnancy.
