Surrogacy

Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, dangers or undesirable factors of pregnancy, or when pregnancy is a medical impossibility. Surrogacy is highly controversial and only legal in twelve countries.

A surrogacy relationship or legal agreement contains the person who carries the pregnancy and gives birth and the person or persons who take custody of the child after birth. The person giving birth is the gestational carrier, sometimes referred to as the birth mother, surrogate mother or surrogate. Those taking custody are called the commissioning or intended parents. The biological mother may be the surrogate or the intended parent or neither. Gestational carriers are usually introduced to intended parents through third-party agencies, or other matching channels. They are usually required to participate in processes of insemination (no matter traditional or IVF), pregnancy, and delivery.

In surrogacy arrangements, monetary compensation may or may not be involved. Receiving money for the arrangement is known as commercial surrogacy. The legality and cost of surrogacy varies widely between jurisdictions, contributing to fertility tourism, and sometimes resulting in problematic international or interstate surrogacy arrangements. For example, those living in a country where surrogacy is banned travel to a jurisdiction that permits it. In some countries, surrogacy is legal if there is no financial gain.

Where commercial surrogacy is legal, third-party agencies may assist by finding a surrogate and arranging a surrogacy contract with her. These agencies often obtain medical tests to ensure healthy gestation and delivery. They also usually facilitate legal matters concerning the intended parents and the gestational carrier.

Surrogacy refers to an arrangement where a woman carries a child for intended parents. In some cases, it's specified as traditional surrogacy, where the gestational carrier's own egg is used. More commonly, surrogacy is when the egg comes from someone other than the gestational carrier, making the legal and emotional boundaries clearer.

Surrogacy (also known as host or full surrogacy) was first achieved in April 1986. It takes place when an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology is transferred to a gestational carrier. Surrogacy has several forms, and in each form, the resulting child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate:

A traditional surrogacy (also known as partial, natural, or straight surrogacy) is one where the gestational carrier's egg is fertilised by the intended father's or a donor's sperm.

Insemination of the gestational carrier can be either through sex (natural insemination) or artificial insemination. Using the sperm of a donor results in a child who is not genetically related to the intended parents. If the intended father's sperm is used in the insemination, the resulting child is genetically related to both him and the gestational carrier.