Surrogacy, simply, is a procedure in which the pregnancy is carried by someone else, and not the mother herself. The woman, who carries the baby for the couple, is known as the surrogate mother.
When Is Surrogacy Needed?
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| Surrogacy |
It is usually done in a situation where the mother’s body does not have a hospitable environment for the baby. This can be due to different reasons like a malformed or a totally absent womb, and repeated failure in the in-vitro fertilisation treatment. Surrogacy, in normal cases, is never recommended because of issues other than medical ones. Some women prefer to have a baby through surrogacy because of their professions, but it should be realised that surrogacy should be taken up only if there is an actual need for it, medically.
The Different surrogacies
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| Surrogacy |
There are two types of surrogacies: Full (or Gestational) surrogacy and Half (or Partial) Surrogacy.
In a Gestational Surrogacy, there are three possibilities.
1. The egg and the sperm, both from the parents, are implanted in the surrogate.
2. The sperm of the father is implanted with a donor egg.
3. Both the egg and the sperm are donated, and the baby is carried by the surrogate.
Basically, in this kind of surrogacy, the surrogate mother does not have any genetic impact on the baby.
The second kind, the Half or Partial Surrogacy, involves the fertilisation of the egg from the surrogate mother, by the sperm from the father. In this kind, the baby will, obviously, have the surrogate mother’s traits. There are two methods of carrying out fertilisation in this procedure- Artificial Insemination or Intra-Uterine Insemination (IUI).
Choosing a Surrogate
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If you have been advised to take up surrogacy, by a doctor, the next step is to choose a suitable carrier. The agency, through which you are planning to do this, will help you make the right choice. The time taken for this depends of various factors. Once a suitable carrier is chosen, based on the forms of different carriers, you will be made to meet her in person. It is recommended for the couple to choose a surrogate mother who doesn’t put up too far.
How Does It Happen?
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In case of a gestational surrogacy, the first step is the retrieval of the egg from the donor, or the actual mother. Ovulation is triggered using drugs and usually more than one egg is retrieved, to increase chances of fertilisation. After that, the sperms from the father or the donor are used to fertilise the eggs. The implantation in the surrogate takes place at the embryo level.
In case of a partial surrogacy, the surrogate is given fertility drugs and monitored for healthy eggs. The sperm from the father is then introduced, using artificial insemination or IUI.
Factors That Affect Surrogacy
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| Surrogacy Factors |
There are many factors that affect the rate of success in a surrogacy.
1. Firstly, the surrogate should be able to get pregnant, and have a good environment for the growth of the baby. This will depend upon her age, too.
2. Secondly, if the egg is taken from a donor, her age would also affect the fertilisation process.
3. Thirdly, all the medical procedures, like IVF and IUI, done as a part of the surrogacy, should also be done with great care to ensure their success. Failure at one step would mean failure at all of them.
