What is Surrogacy? Eterna IVF and Fertility Clinic

In recent years, surrogacy has become a common form of assisted reproduction. If you’re looking to learn more about it, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s start off by defining the term.

The Definition

Surrogacy is when a woman bears a child for another person or couple, becoming pregnant either through in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Gestational vs. Traditional

There are two types of surrogacy: gestational surrogacy and traditional surrogacy. In gestational surrogacy, the more common practice, a surrogate becomes pregnant via in vitro fertilization and is not genetically related to the child to whom she gives birth. In a traditional surrogacy, a surrogate becomes pregnant via intrauterine insemination, uses her own eggs and has a genetic connection to the baby. While traditional surrogacy was the more common practice in years past, today the vast majority of surrogacy arrangements involve gestational surrogacy.

Compensated vs. Uncompensated

When arranging a surrogacy, there are two options: compensated surrogacy and uncompensated surrogacy. In a compensated surrogacy, the surrogate receives payment for her services, the intended parents pay all medical costs, and the parties typically work with a surrogacy agency. In an uncompensated (sometimes called “altruistic”) surrogacy arrangement, the surrogate is often a friend or relative of the intended parents, and she receives no payment outside of reimbursement for medical expenses. The majority of surrogacy arrangements today involve compensated surrogacy.

Common Surrogacy Situations:

• people turn to surrogacy to build their families for various reasons. Intended parents include:
• eterosexual couples who have repeat miscarriages or several failed assisted reproductive technology attempts, such as in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination
• Intended mothers who are unable to carry a child
• Intended parents who have a genetic defect or health condition they don’t want to pass onto the child
• Same-sex intended parents who want to have a genetic link to the baby

Getting Pregnant

The process by which a surrogate becomes pregnant depends on the type of surrogacy. With gestational surrogacy, the surrogate becomes pregnant by IVF—the intended mother’s eggs or eggs from an egg donor are retrieved through a surgical procedure and fertilized by sperm in a petri dish. The resulting embryos are cultivated in the laboratory for several days and one or more are then transferred into the carrier’s uterus.

Remaining Frozen Embryos

Frozen embryos are stored at your IVF clinic. If your family is complete, you will be advised on your options for the future of your embryos. If you choose to move your embryos, your IVF center will assist you in that process. Of course, you may use the cryopreserved embryos in a future surrogacy if you choose.

Intended Parent Qualification

Becoming a parent is a life-altering decision that shouldn't be made lightly. We ask intended parents to fill out our parenting questionnaire and participate in a free consultation, which helps them to fully understand the emotional, financial, and psychological components that come along with surrogacy.

A Lifelong Gift: 5 Benefits of Becoming a Surrogate

As a gestational surrogate, you have no genetic link to the child you carry. Your body becomes a home to your intended parents’ (IPs) child. And through your nine-months of gestation brings a lifetime of happiness for a family that may not have been created without your generosity and help.

With that in mind, we compiled a list of the top five benefits of becoming a surrogate.

1. Enriching the lives of your IPs as well as bringing one into the world. IPs pursue surrogacy for many reasons— some are same-sex couples, some are heterosexual couples who struggle with infertility, and others are single parents who want to start a family. Your act of becoming a surrogate gives the gift of life to you IPs.

2. Developing a bond with your IPs. At Circle, we believe that the relationship between a surrogate and her IPs is of the utmost importance for both parties involved and for the child’s future. By carefully matching surrogates with IPs who have similar expectations on the type of relationship they’re willing to build, we can help create a heart-warming and fulfilling experience. The relationship is a reciprocal one, and Circle works with you and your IPs to ensure that both parties are comfortable and excited to work together.

3. Receiving top-notch care. As a surrogate with Eterna Surrogacy, you are closely monitored by some of the best healthcare professionals in the country, ensuring that you receive the best possible care.

4. Earning financial compensation. In addition to the altruistic reasons for becoming a surrogate, you are compensated for your time and dedication. Eterna’s surrogates earn between Rs. 50000 and Rs. 100000 with the potential to earn up to Rs 80000 in additional reimbursements. IPs view payment as a small gift in return for your immeasurable blessing that you’ve given them.

5. Experiencing complete support. Not only will you have support and care from your intended parents, but you will also have a team here at Eterna Surrogacy who will be with you every step of the way. You will move through your surrogacy journey with a group of people who will make sure that you are happy, healthy, and safe at all times.

Every woman’s experience as a gestational carrier is different. However, there is a common sentiment Rani Gupta (a former Eterna surrogate!) captures in her Youtube video about her experience. She notes, “This was their pregnancy- they just didn’t have the stretch marks to show it.”

IVF for Surrogacy and Egg Donation: An overview for intended parents

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the medical procedure behind gestational surrogacy and egg donation. In the process, eggs are removed from an egg donor or from the intended mother and fertilized with sperm in a lab to create embryos. The resulting embryos are grown in laboratory conditions for 3-5 days. In a surrogacy arrangement, these embryos are then implanted into the uterus of a gestational surrogate. In an egg donation arrangement, they are transferred into the intended mother.

In preparation for the IVF procedure, surrogates and egg donors undergo medical treatments. An egg donor will self-administer injectible medications to stimulate the production of eggs. A surrogate takes medications to prepare her body for the embryo implantation.

Intended parents need to make a variety of choices in conjunction with the medical team at your IVF clinic. These decisions directly affect not only the success of the procedure, but also the number, health, and the biological makeup of the prospective children. The quality of the resulting embryos may affect the number that is recommended to be implanted. You may also have legal agreements in place that stipulate the number of embryos that can be transferred. You will also need to determine what to do with any remaining frozen embryos following the procedure.

The egg retrieval and IVF procedures are brief. Following the embryo transfer, your surrogate will require a period of bed rest. At any point in the process, you should feel free to reach out to your IVF clinic for any medical questions or to Circle with any questions about your contract, travel, or any other related issues.

Women delaying first baby risk age-related infertility

Young women who decide to delay their first baby until their late-30s are running the risk of being left childless because of age-related infertility, scientists have warned.

A woman's fertility declines dramatically after the age of 35 and an increasing number of women are finding that they have to turn to IVF treatment to have any hope of becoming pregnant, experts said.

"Things are really going downhill between the ages of 30 and 40....the best cure of all is for women to have their babies before this clock strikes twelve," said Dr. Sarita Sukhija, a surrogacy and ivf specialist at Eterna IVF and Fertility Clinic.

"They should think of family planning not just in the context of preventing pregnancy but also think of it in the context of having your babies at a time when you still have your reproductive fitness...I would be worried if my own daughter didn't have a child at 35," Dr Sarita said.

The number of women between the ages of 35 and 39 giving birth for the first time has increased from 6.8 per cent in 1986 to 17 per cent in 2008. This has been accompanied by significant increase in the number of women over 40 seeking fertility treatment, many of whom will ultimately fail to become pregnant, the experts said.

Fertility specialists are increasingly concerned about the trend towards having children later in life because, although it can work for some women, it causes problems for many more because female fertility declines so rapidly after 35.

"Family planning has got to include when you are going to have your children as well and what we are seeing over the years is an increase in the age of women seeking fertility treatment," said Dr Sarita.

"We cannot get away from the age-related decline in fertility and I think to put forward the idea of delaying having children is fine for some people but it's not fine for everybody," she said.

"I don't think women understand the risks they run when they reach the older ages....It's better to think about it [in your 20s] and having that thought process inform all possibilities," she told the British Science Festival in Newcastle.

Women are born with a certain number of egg cells in their ovaries and these are gradually lost as they get older, Dr Sarita said.

"Women at the age of menopause have effectively run out of eggs. We do run out of time," she told the meeting.

Dream of motherhood finally real after surrogacy - Eterna IVF and Fertility Clinic

AFTER 17 years, 15 failed IVF attempts and the death of a premature baby, Merri Anderson refused to give up hope that one day she would become a mother.

That courage and unwavering faith will see Merri and partner Peter welcome not one but two little miracles into the world any day now - but not without a little bit of help.

Merri and Peter began their journey to parenthood many years ago and after trying for years to conceive naturally were forced to turn to IVF when they found out one of Merri's tubes was blocked.

That also proved to be a dead end street paved with heartache with four cancelled cycles and 10 unsuccessful cycles before the 11th go when they finally fell pregnant but lost their little girl after she was born premature and lived for just three hours.

"They said I could either adopt or try surrogacy, but the adoption agencies wouldn't approve us because of my lung problem and surrogacy was still illegal," Ms Anderson said.

Their options were dwindling but all that changed when they came for surrogacy in India in Eterna-IVF, the Rockhampton pair was given an email address for Indian woman Usha who had been considering becoming a surrogate for some time.

"We emailed back and forth for a few months getting to know each other," Usha said.

"It was the most nerve-racking day meeting each other after six months," Ms Anderson said.

Usha and her husband Raju have two children, Rani, 16, and Rahul, 13, and said nine months was a small price to pay to make dreams come true.

"Nine months of my life will give them a lifetime of happiness," Usha said.

When the four finally agreed to go ahead with the surrogacy, one attempt failed, the second resulted in a miscarriage and the third resulted in something none of them imagined in their wildest dreams - twins.

Usha is due to give birth to twins, a boy and girl, any day now and says the whole process has forged an incredible bond between the two families.

"They will know that I was the birth mother," she said.

"We'll be aunty and uncle to the twins and see them all the time and they will be like cousins to Rahul and Rani."

Mrs Anderson said she did not know what she would do without the incredible generosity of the whole Raju family.

"She's my life saver," Mrs Anderson said. "I don't know how I was ever going to get through life without kids.

"I've wanted them since I was little and I never ever gave up and I knew one day I would be a mum somehow."

One day is now just around the corner with the twins due on March 27 but doctors have said if they haven't arrived by March 11, they will induce labour.

"She's been so patient the past 17 years but this last two weeks has been crazy for her," Usha said of the mother-to-be.

"She's getting impatient."

Usha said her

family, especially husband Raju, had been incredibly supportive but both exten

ded families had been sceptical when they first told them about the surrogacy plans.

"Both our families were a bit strange at first but they have all gotten used to it," Ms Anderson said. "My family was terrified that she would keep them even though they're biologically ours.

"It's very scary. I had to put all my trust in her."

The surrogacy has cost approximate 9700 GBP but that's only a portion of what the pair have spent on IVF and related

expenses over the years.

Why Infertility Happens | Your Guide to Female Infertility

Infertility is the inability to get pregnant after a year of unprotected intercourse. 

About 10% of couples in only United States are affected by infertility. Both men and women can be infertile. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1/3 of the time the diagnosis is due to female infertility, 1/3 of the time it is linked to male infertility, and the remaining cases of infertility are due to a combination of factors from both partners. For approximately 20% of couples, the cause cannot be determined.

How Does Age Affect Fertility?

Women are born with a finite number of eggs. Thus, as the reproductive years progress, the number and quality of the eggs diminish. The chances of having a baby decrease by 3% to 5% per year after the age of 30. This reduction in fertility is noted to a much greater extent after age 40.

What Causes Female Infertility?

Female infertility can be also be caused by a number of factors, including the following:

• Damage to the fallopian tubes (which carry the eggs from the ovaries to the uterus) can prevent contact between the egg and sperm. Pelvic infections, endometriosis, and pelvic surgeries may lead to scar formation and fallopian tube damage.
• Some women have problems with ovulation. Synchronized hormonal changes leading to the release of an egg from the ovary and the thickening of the endometrium (lining of the uterus) in preparation for the fertilized egg do not occur. These problems may be detected using basal body temperature charts, ovulation predictor kits, and blood tests to detect hormone levels.
• A small group of women may have a cervical condition in which the sperm cannot pass through the cervical canal. Whether due to abnormal mucus production or a prior cervical surgical procedure, this problem may be treated with intrauterine inseminations.
• Abnormal anatomy of the uterus; the presence of polyps and fibroids.
• The cause of infertility in approximately 20% of couples will not be determined using the currently available methods of investigation.

How Is the Cause of Infertility Determined?

If male infertility is suspected, a semen analysis is performed. This test will evaluate the number and health of his sperm. A blood test can also be performed to check his level of testosterone and other male hormones.

If female infertility is suspected, your doctor may order several tests, including:

• A blood test to check hormone levels
• An endometrial biopsy to check the lining of the uterus
• Two diagnostic tests that may be helpful in detecting scar tissue and tubal obstruction are hysterosalpingography and laparoscopy.
•  This procedure involves either ultrasound or X-rays taken of the reproductive organs. Either dye or saline and air are injected into the cervix and travel up through the fallopian tubes. This enables the ultrasound or X-ray to reveal if the fallopian tubes are open or blocked.
•  In this procedure, a laparoscope (a slender tube fitted with a fiberoptic camera) is inserted into the abdomen through a small incision near the belly button. The laparoscope enables the doctor to view the outside of the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes to detect abnormal growths, as in endometriosis. The doctor can also check to see if the fallopian tubes are open at the same time.

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What to Expect During IVF | Eterna IVF & Fertility Clinic

1. The intake interview.

If initial fertility treatments such as fertility drugs or surgery fail and you decide to move forward with IVF, your ob/gyn will refer you to a reproductive endocrinologist. During your initial meeting with the doctor, you'll discuss your medical and fertility history, and that of your partner, to determine which treatment protocols will work best for you, as well as what you can do to improve the odds of a healthy birth.

2. Preliminary tests and talks.

You'll undergo ultrasound and blood tests to determine the number and quality of your eggs. You'll also meet with a nurse to learn how to self administer fertility drugs, a financial counselor to work out payment, and a psychologist to discuss coping with any stress that might arise.

3. Drugs to induce egg growth.

To stimulate your follicles to grow as many eggs as possible during your cycle, for about two weeks you'll give yourself one to three daily injections of fertility medications (such as GonalF, a folliclestimulating hormone, and Repronex, a luteinizing hormone) in your thigh or stomach. Either before your cycle or midway through, you'll also inject a gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) drug such as Lupron, which prevents you from ovulating too early. Around day 12, you'll inject the drug human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) to stimulate ovulation and precisely time the final burst of egg growth. During these two weeks, you'll visit the clinic about five times for blood and ultrasound tests to monitor your progress.

4. Egg harvesting.

In a carefully targeted window of time — shortly before doctors calculate that your eggs will be released through the fallopian tubes during ovulation — you'll be heavily sedated and, using ultrasound as a guide, your doctor will pull eggs out of your ovaries with a hollow needle inserted through the wall of the vagina. In the meantime, your partner, in a nearby room, will ejaculate into a cup to obtain sperm, which the lab will then quickly process to extract the most robust ones. The sperm and eggs are then mixed together in an incubator so insemination can occur. If necessary — for instance, when sperm count is low or the sperm are having difficulty penetrating the egg — the lab embryologist might also perform intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a procedure in which sperm are injected directly into an egg. If you are over 40 or a previous IVF attempt failed, he might also puncture the outer shell of a resulting embryo shortly before transferring it into the uterus so it can implant itself more easily, a process called assisted hatching.

5. Embryo transfer.

Three days after harvesting your eggs, your doctor will use a thin catheter to insert two or three embryos into your uterus via the vagina. "This is a painless procedure that feels like a Pap smear," explains Sarita Sukhija, medical director at Eterna IVF in Delhi. If genetic diseases are a concern, this step might occur on day five, after lab biopsies have been performed to select the healthiest embryos.

6. The outcome.

Your partner (or a friend or a family member) will give you daily injections of progesterone, a hormone that aids implantation, in the buttocks. In two weeks, you'll take a pregnancy test at the clinic; someone there will call to give you the results.

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