Surrogacy is when another woman carries, and gives birth to a child for you. The individual carrying the baby is recognise as the surrogate and the parents to be, if there are pair are called the ‘commissioning pair’. Asking somebody else to have a baby on your behalf is commonly as a last resort but even so, the decision to do this should be considered carefully. You may want to think about surrogacy if: you have a medical condition which makes it out of the question or unsafe for you to become pregnant and give birth or you have been unfruitful with In Vitro fertilisation.
It’s vital that both parties are fully committed to the agreement and that you realise the implications of what is needed now and in future years. A sound idea at his point is for everyone to sit with a counselor experienced in this field to discuss the whole process. In addition to counseling, legal help is a necessary requirement. If the process is to be implemented at a fertility clinic then all parties including partners on both sides, if there are any, will have to go through all the normal procedures that would be implemented if infertility treatment were being employed.
There are pair ways of having a baby with a surrogate: you can utilise sperm from a man partner, if you have one, and the surrogate’s eggs. If that is the method you are using then Artificial Insemination or Intrauterine Insemination is employed for the impregnation process. The second way involves using the commissioning mother’s eggs (or provided eggs) and the male partners sperm. When this method is chosen then In Vitro impregnation is employed but the procedure must be implemented at a licensed clinic.
Antenatal examination will be necessary to avoid problems like Downs’s Syndrome or Spina Bifida and what will occur if the baby has a congenital problem so trust between parties is crucial. A safe pregnancy and birth are also a thought when choosing the surrogate. This will in all probability be a stressful time so help from friends and close relations are very serious. It is also fundamental that the fertility clinic and hospital are happy about the use of surrogacy. In some parts of the world surrogates are paid, nonetheless this is not permitted in the UK for instance where only limited expenses are covered: those costs acquired by the surrogate such as apparel, travel expenses and loss of earnings for example.
The surrogate mother may change her mind about letting the child go even if it is not genetically hers, however, this a unusual happening. This is another reason why there must be total trust and commitment between all parties right from the begin because this could be very painful if it were to take place.
