In today’s era, Infertility has become a common problem among married couples and partners. There are different fertility treatments to achieve parenthood & surrogacy is specially designed for women who cannot carry pregnancy in their womb due to medical or personal conditions. Another woman called a surrogate mom carries the pregnancy for the intended parents. The Fertility Cure Centre team has explained “how does surrogacy work”.
In India, surrogacy works according to “The Surrogacy Regulation Act 2021”. This regulation prohibits commercial surrogacy and only Altruistic surrogacy is allowed to married Indian couples, divorced or widowed single women, or foreigners holding Indian passport(s) and the surrogate should be the relative of the intending parents having the required eligibility criteria to become a surrogate mother.
Let’s Discuss More About “How Surrogacy Works” Globally
Every legal surrogacy country has its surrogacy laws and regulations. Therefore, to pursue surrogacy one has to satisfy the legal requirements of the chosen state.
Your documentation will be represented by legal surrogacy lawyers of that country who is well known to your working surrogacy centre/agency. He/she will represent your proof or reasons for surrogacy and all the required documentation on the couple’s behalf.
After the legal framework is done. Arrangement and matching of the surrogate with the intended parents or donors (if applied). Then, the surrogate will undergo evaluations, and screenings to ensure her well-being and reproductive system viability to carry pregnancy.
Before moving ahead with the actual medical surrogacy procedure, a “legal contract agreement” between the intended parents, surrogate, donor (if used), and treating centre team under the witness of legal lawyers. The agreement will mention all the dos and don’ts, rights, risks, parentage orders, compensation/reimbursement of surrogates, and regulations.
Actual medical procedure; Surrogate mothers are impregnated through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF)- the intended mother or egg donor has to develop multiple eggs known as ovary stimulation. The embryologist will retrieve that developed mature egg and immediately combine it with partner sperm under the culture medium in the laboratory to achieve fertilization. The resultant embryo will be transferred into the surrogate mother’s uterus where she carries the pregnancy to term, gives birth, and hand it over to the intending parents.
The intended parents will have full rights over the child’s birth certificate and the child may or may not receive citizenship of the worked country.
Whose Egg Is Used In Surrogacy?
The decision on whose eggs should be used in surrogacy is dependent on the intended mother’s fertility condition, egg viability, quality, number of egg counts, her age, etc, or the personal intended parent’s decision. Intended parents can opt for donor eggs based on their choice. Surrogacy centres like Fertility Cure run a donor database where parents can get donor eggs of any origin. Usually, the donor cycle is termed as guaranteed surrogacy because it ensures up to 95% surrogacy success rate.
Does A Surrogate Mother Share Blood With Baby?
The surrogate and the baby do not share blood either, the nutrients and oxygen are delivered to the baby through the placenta which also prevents the blood sharing.
The fact is that a surrogate mother does not share DNA with the baby she carries, and she is not related genetically to the baby in any way in the surrogacy journey.
How Does Surrogacy Work With Two Males?
Donor-cycle surrogacy journey is the only way to achieve parenthood between two male partners. In such cases, surrogacy is achieved by fertilizing either one of the male partner’s sperm with donor eggs. In India, LGBTQ surrogacy is not allowed but many countries are allowed legally.
In the process, the selected egg donor will undergo ovary stimulation to produce multiple eggs which are then retrieved and then combined with the sperm in the laboratory to achieve fertilization. The resultant matured fertilized embryo is picked and transferred into the surrogate uterus, she continues pregnancy to term and give birth. The child will be handed over to the male intended parent legally following the surrogacy laws and signed contract agreement of the surrogate, donor, parents, and treating teams. The child will receive full rights, protection, and legal parentage.
How Does Surrogacy Work Legally?
Every country has its own set of legal surrogacy regulations. Therefore, to undergo surrogacy legally intended parents have to follow the surrogacy law of the selected country. Generally, most of the country will have similar rules such as proof of infertility from Doctors, reasons for surrogacy, proper visa, passports, parent’s origin, age limits, eligibility, can or cannot use donor eggs/sperms, etc.
All these legal criteria will be represented to legal authority by your assigned surrogacy lawyer after thorough evaluations and cooperation of the parents. After that a “surrogacy contract agreement” will be signed by all involved teams including the intended parent, donors (egg/sperm) if applied, surrogates, and the doctor’s team under the witness of legal lawyers. All the surrogacy conditions will be mentioned like parentage order, surrogate consequences, donor’s liabilities, and a bond of surrogacy terms.
After furnished legal documentation and signed agreement, the medical surrogacy procedure is followed until parenthood is received according to regulations and agreements.
Types Of Surrogacy
Generally, there are two types of surrogacy when it comes to working with a professional. They include
- Altruistic surrogacy: Countries such as India allow only altruistic surrogacy to married couples and single women. Altruistic simply applies to surrogacy where the surrogate should be the relatives of the intending parents and does not receive any financial assistance and donor assistance is also included. For more information please visit here; What Is Altruistic Surrogacy- Its Pros & Cons.
- Compensated surrogacy: In this type of surrogacy, the surrogate mother is from any origin unrelated to the intending parents and she has to be compensated financially. It may include domestic or international parents, donor assistance, and self-cycle.
Conclusion
Surrogacy is an amazing Assisted reproductive technology (ART) that is worked by using a surrogate mother, donor assistance (if required), and self-egg/sperm. Surrogacy has helped thousands of desperate intending parents who are infertile or have medical conditions. Such parents hopeful to embrace parenthood can do so by surrogacy. However, parents are highly recommended to first consult with a specialist or agency that can arrange a better surrogacy plan.
FAQs
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Does a surrogate baby have the mother’s DNA?
Yes, the surrogate baby will ultimately have the intended mother’s DNA and not the surrogate, if surrogacy is performed using the intended mother’s eggs (self-cycle). It is because a baby born through self-cycle surrogacy inherits 50% DNA from the sperm (father) and 50% from the egg provider and not the surrogate mother. This is not the case when donor eggs are used.
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How does a woman get pregnant with surrogacy?
The surrogate mother (another woman) is impregnated through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The created embryo is transferred into the surrogate uterus. In this process, doctors make an embryo by fertilizing eggs from the intended mother or an egg donor with sperm from the intended father or a sperm donor.
