Gestational surrogacy - What is it?

Gestational surrogacy - What is it?

The term “gestational surrogacy” refers to a therapy where the surrogate mother (gestational carrier) is impregnated through IVF (in-vitro fertilization). In this process, the gestational carrier undergoes for an embryo transfer process and then she carries pregnancy to term. The commissioning couples who involve in the surrogacy process present at the time of birth, and take over the parenting responsibilities immediately after delivery. The commissioning couples name is mentioned in the birth certificate of a baby.  

In this process, the pregnancy is achieved through IVF therapy. In IVF, an intended mother should take prescribed drugs to produce multiple ova during ovulation. Normally, a woman can produce only one ovum during ovulation, but for a successful IVF therapy, physicians need multiple ova, therefore they prescribe some drugs to increase the egg count. Once they detect matured ova in follicles, a small surgery is performed to take out the ova. Meanwhile, the sperms are taken out from intended father. The sperms are allowed to fertilize the ovum. After successful fertilization, zygote is formed. It is then implanted into the uterus of a gestational carrier (surrogate mother) to achieve pregnancy. Thus, the woman carries biologically unrelated baby for the term. The baby born through this process is genetically related to the intended parents (if their gametes are used to form zygote).

In some situation, if the intended father or intended mother fails to produce healthy and quality gametes, donors are used to form zygote. The baby born through this process is genetically connected with donor, who remains anonymous.