What is Surrogacy?
Surrogacy is a form of assisted reproductive treatment (ART) in which a woman carries a child in her uterus on behalf of another person or couple. There are two main types of surrogacy: traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy.
Traditional surrogacy refers to when a carrier woman is inseminated, naturally or artificially by IUI, with the sperm of a man who is not her partner in order to conceive and carry a child to be reared by the biologic (genetic) father and his partner. The surrogate is genetically related to the child. Usually, the biologic father and his partner must adopt the child after birth. Nest Egg Fertility does not offer this type of surrogacy.
What is Gestational Surrogacy?
Gestational surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a baby for someone else. The woman who carries the baby is the gestational surrogate or gestational carrier. The parents-to-be are known as the “intended parents” and are involved in the pregnancy, are present at the birth, and become the child’s parents after the baby is born.
In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate agrees to give birth to a child resulting from implantation of an already fertilized egg (embryo)—and surrender her parental rights– for another individual who cannot be pregnant for various medical, biosocial, or psychological reasons. The baby isn’t genetically related to the gestational surrogate – the egg usually comes from the intended mother and the sperm comes from the intended father (though donor eggs, donor embryos, or donor sperm are sometimes used).
A surrogate is compensated professionally for this service. All surrogates undergo extensive medical and psychological screenings in order to ensure their suitability.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a necessary part of this arrangement because eggs from one woman are used to create an embryo implanted in another. In IVF, fertilization occurs after eggs and sperm are combined in a laboratory. The resulting embryo or embryos are then transferred to the gestational surrogate’s uterus.
Gestational surrogacy is the only type of surrogacy offered by Nest Egg Fertility.
We’d love to you get started on your path to parenthood through surrogacy so feel free to contact us for a free consultation.