What do you think about surrogacy?
“A Family begins on a couple’s wedding day, while a child causes the family to grow, but a family of two is no less a family.” – Anonymous
‘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. But today we shall look into, what is Surrogacy, why people opt for it and many things related to it in detail.
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.
In the U.S., Gestational surrogacy is not so legal. That is because both target parents have genetic responsibilities toward the child. As a result, pregnancy is more common than the traditional healer. And about 750 babies are born each year through the process of Gestational Surrogacy.
Let’s also have a quick look at the different procedures used in Gestational Surrogacy:
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.
In the U.S., Gestational surrogacy is not so legal. That is because both target parents have genetic responsibilities toward the child. As a result, pregnancy is more common than the traditional healer. And about 750 babies are born each year through the process of Gestational Surrogacy.
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 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).
This also bring us to view why women opt for Surrogate Pregnancy and there can many reasons for one to do so, but some of the most common ones are:
While we all get to know what is Surrogacy, Reasons why one opts for Surrogacy, what are the different types of Surrogacy available for parents according to their convenience, it is also important to know are there some risks associated with it, and we shall look into some of them right away;
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.
And when one thinks about opting for methods other than the natural ones, then they also wish to know about the cost for the same, so let’s look at how much does the process of Surrogacy in general?
The cost of surrogacy is about Rs. 13 to 14 lakhs depending on the type of surrogacy (self-sustaining egg or donor egg surrogacy) which involves 3 attempts.
Thus, one can see what is Surrogacy, what are it’s types, what are the risk factors included in surrogacy, why do people opt for surrogacy and so on. But this is not as easy as it seems, as people might not be open about it. People might not be open to such facts, where they see people having babies via some methods other than the natural way of conceiving. And, when people ask what do you think about surrogacy, as an author of this article, I would like to say that surrogacy proves as method which gives happiness to many woman out there who can’t experience the happiness of their own baby. Sure, like any other thing in this world, surrogacy also has it’s own pros and cons but what matters the most is that it is a source of happiness for many who can’t have their own children in a natural manner. And I feel that any sane person would also agree to the point of view as mine.
Ref: Surrogacy | Pregnancy Birth and Baby (pregnancybirthbaby.org.au)
This also bring us to view why women opt for Surrogate Pregnancy and there can many reasons for one to do so, but some of the most common ones are:
- Medical problems with one's uterus.
- One had a hysterectomy that removed their uterus.
While we all get to know what is Surrogacy, Reasons why one opts for Surrogacy, what are the different types of Surrogacy available for parents according to their convenience, it is also important to know are there some risks associated with it, and we shall look into some of them right away;
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.
And when one thinks about opting for methods other than the natural ones, then they also wish to know about the cost for the same, so let’s look at how much does the process of Surrogacy in general?
The cost of surrogacy is about Rs. 13 to 14 lakhs depending on the type of surrogacy (self-sustaining egg or donor egg surrogacy) which involves 3 attempts.
Thus, one can see what is Surrogacy, what are it’s types, what are the risk factors included in surrogacy, why do people opt for surrogacy and so on. But this is not as easy as it seems, as people might not be open about it. People might not be open to such facts, where they see people having babies via some methods other than the natural way of conceiving. And, when people ask what do you think about surrogacy, as an author of this article, I would like to say that surrogacy proves as method which gives happiness to many woman out there who can’t experience the happiness of their own baby. Sure, like any other thing in this world, surrogacy also has it’s own pros and cons but what matters the most is that it is a source of happiness for many who can’t have their own children in a natural manner. And I feel that any sane person would also agree to the point of view as mine.