How much does it cost to have our child be birthed by a surrogate mother?
"There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others." —Mandy Hale
‘MOTHERHOOD’, although just ten letter word, but hold a lots of emotions. One cannot understand what it means to be a mother or experience motherhood until they become one, but not everyone is so lucky. However, motherhood is something that forces a woman to lot more than she can even expect, there have been battles fought for the child and with the child, so when motherhood is something so precious, everyone out there wants to experience it. But what if one can’t conceive naturally? What are the options available for her?Well, earlier there were hardly any options available for a woman to have a child through some other technique if not by conceiving naturally and the only option they would have is to adapt, which many women or families didn’t prefer thinking why raise someone else’s child. But in today’s time, there tens of various techniques and procedures available for a woman to have her baby even if she can’t conceive naturally.
There are techniques like Surrogacy, IVF (In vitro fertilisation), Test Tube Baby, and many more. While all the aforementioned techniques prove to be a boon for all the mothers out there, today however we shall look into the details of what is Surrogacy it’s types and how much does it cost to have your child birthed with the help of a surrogate mother.
What is Surrogacy?
Surrogate Pregnancy involves a woman agreeing to bear someone else's child. After the birth of a child, the birth mother gains the right to live and care for the intended parent or parents. Surrogacy has complex legal and medical measures to be met. It is important to monitor the process, seek professional advice and build support networks.Well, it does not just here, as there are many different types of Surrogacy as well.- Altruistic (non-commercial) surrogacy: The birth mother does not receive payment. Although some states allow reasonable reimbursement of medical expenses for the mother of the respondent.
- Traditional Surrogacy: The surrogate mother donates her egg, which is fertilized by the sperm of the father. Since the baby is naturally the surrogate mother's child, there may be future issues related to the child's future right to information about his or her identity. Thus Traditional Surrogacy may be banned in most states and territories. Therefore, it is also possible to practice traditional surrogacy through an overseas clinic.
- Commercial Surrogacy: This includes the birth mother who receives payment or material gain in favour of giving birth. It is illegal to pay a third party company to arrange for acquisition and advertising to the adoptive parent or the authorized parent is usually not permitted.
While we are talking about Surrogacy it is also extremely important to talk about Gestational Surrogacy which is also called as IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).
Gestational Surrogacy- The procedure called “In Vitro Fertilization” (IVF) now makes it possible to collect eggs from the mother (or donor egg), fertilized by sperm from the father (or donor sperm), and implant the foetus in her mother's womb. The surrogate mother then carries the baby until it is born.
They have no genetics in the baby because it was not their egg that was used. The Gestational surrogates are called as "birth mother" but logically the birth mother is still the woman whose egg was fertilized for the process.
Let’s also have a quick look at the different procedures used in Gestational Surrogacy:
Embryos implanted in pregnancy are at the same risk as anyone using IVF. Risks of prenatal implantation include unintended epigenetic effects, the influence of the media on which the embryo is enlarged, and the adverse effects of foetal malnutrition. Usually, more embryos are transferred to increase the chance of implantation, and when multiple pregnancies occur, both the embryo and the foetus face greater risk of complications.
Pregnant parents are less likely to develop high blood pressure during pregnancy compared to pregnant mothers with oocyte donations. This may be because pregnancy carriers tend to be healthier and more fertile than women who use an oocyte donation. Pregnancy carriers also have lower rates of placenta Previa / placenta abruptions (1.1-7.9%). Babies born with singleton IVF surrogacy have been shown to have less physical or mental trauma compared to those babies born with natural pregnancy. However, babies born with multiple pregnancies often lead to premature labour and childbirth, leading to premature growth and physical and / or mental disorders.
While it is extremely important to know about the pros and cons of surrogacy and what are the things that one might need to face if they opt for surrogacy. But on the other hand it is also very important to know that if you or anyone decides to opt for surrogacy to have a baby and that too traditional surrogacy and not the IVF that is Gestational surrogacy, then they should be ready to spent at least a few lakhs of rupees because the average cost for the traditional surrogacy could be anywhere between 15, 00,000 to 20, 00,000 which is quite high. Like some lower middle class family might only end up saving that much in their entire life.
Whereas if one decides to opt for IVF that is Gestational Surrogacy then it is relatedly a cheaper option than the traditional surrogacy, because the average cost of IVF is around 1,00,000 to 1,50,000 which is like around 15-18 times lesser than that of the traditional surrogacy.
Thus, as your friend I would like to ask you all to make your decisions wisely, as it is not the matter of a life but also about one’s economic conditions. Thus, parents who are thinking to have your baby through surrogacy have two options and decide one or the other depending on factors like cost, country, legalities, so forth and so on. So, in short beware of what you decide as it will have an impact on your as well the baby’s future because financial assistance is the biggest assistance.
Ref: Surrogacy | Pregnancy Birth and Baby (pregnancybirthbaby.org.au)
Gestational Surrogacy- The procedure called “In Vitro Fertilization” (IVF) now makes it possible to collect eggs from the mother (or donor egg), fertilized by sperm from the father (or donor sperm), and implant the foetus in her mother's womb. The surrogate mother then carries the baby until it is born.
They have no genetics in the baby because it was not their egg that was used. The Gestational surrogates are called as "birth mother" but logically the birth mother is still the woman whose egg was fertilized for the process.
Let’s also have a quick look at the different procedures used in Gestational Surrogacy:
- The embryo is produced from the sperm of the would be father and egg of the would be a mother;
- The embryo is produced using the sperm of the would be father and a donor egg;
- The embryo is produced using would be mother's egg and a donor sperm;
- The donating embryo is passed on to the other person. Such an embryo may be acquired when others undergo IVF and have embryos implanted in others. The resulting child is not genetically related to the target parent(s).
- Medical problems with one's uterus.
- One had a hysterectomy that removed their uterus.
- Circumstances that make pregnancy impossible or dangerous for the woman, such as severe heart disease.
Embryos implanted in pregnancy are at the same risk as anyone using IVF. Risks of prenatal implantation include unintended epigenetic effects, the influence of the media on which the embryo is enlarged, and the adverse effects of foetal malnutrition. Usually, more embryos are transferred to increase the chance of implantation, and when multiple pregnancies occur, both the embryo and the foetus face greater risk of complications.
Pregnant parents are less likely to develop high blood pressure during pregnancy compared to pregnant mothers with oocyte donations. This may be because pregnancy carriers tend to be healthier and more fertile than women who use an oocyte donation. Pregnancy carriers also have lower rates of placenta Previa / placenta abruptions (1.1-7.9%). Babies born with singleton IVF surrogacy have been shown to have less physical or mental trauma compared to those babies born with natural pregnancy. However, babies born with multiple pregnancies often lead to premature labour and childbirth, leading to premature growth and physical and / or mental disorders.
While it is extremely important to know about the pros and cons of surrogacy and what are the things that one might need to face if they opt for surrogacy. But on the other hand it is also very important to know that if you or anyone decides to opt for surrogacy to have a baby and that too traditional surrogacy and not the IVF that is Gestational surrogacy, then they should be ready to spent at least a few lakhs of rupees because the average cost for the traditional surrogacy could be anywhere between 15, 00,000 to 20, 00,000 which is quite high. Like some lower middle class family might only end up saving that much in their entire life.
Whereas if one decides to opt for IVF that is Gestational Surrogacy then it is relatedly a cheaper option than the traditional surrogacy, because the average cost of IVF is around 1,00,000 to 1,50,000 which is like around 15-18 times lesser than that of the traditional surrogacy.
Thus, as your friend I would like to ask you all to make your decisions wisely, as it is not the matter of a life but also about one’s economic conditions. Thus, parents who are thinking to have your baby through surrogacy have two options and decide one or the other depending on factors like cost, country, legalities, so forth and so on. So, in short beware of what you decide as it will have an impact on your as well the baby’s future because financial assistance is the biggest assistance.