Who is a surrogate mother?

A surrogate is a woman who agrees to carry genetically irrelevant baby for the sake of intended parents. She becomes pregnant with the assisted reproductive technology treatment such as In-vitro fertilization or artificial insemination. However, In-vitro fertilization is most popular treatment used to achieve pregnancy. It is known as gestational surrogacy and the lady who carries intended parent’s baby through this process is known as gestational carrier. The proxy mother carries the baby for nine months and gives birth. After birth, the surrogate hand overs the child to intended parents

Types of surrogacy:

There are two types of surrogacy – gestational and traditional. In traditional surrogacy, a surrogate donates her own egg to carry pregnancy whereas in gestational the embryo fertilized in the laboratory is injected to the uterus of a surrogate to achieve pregnancy. In traditional surrogacy, the resulting child is genetically relevant to the surrogate and intended father. In gestational process, the resulting baby is biologically related to intended parents and harmonically irrelevant to a proxy mum.

However, most of the state laws accept gestational surrogacy while traditional surrogacy is considered illegal and banned. Therefore, the surrogate agencies in the United States of America suggest biological and LGBT couples to choose gestational process rather than traditional way. The agencies thoroughly check the medical history of a lady willing to work as proxy before suggesting her to the childless couple. However, suitable arrangement will be made for proxy’s living, compensation, medical expenses and miscellaneous expenses. All these things are mentioned in a surrogate agreement made between childless couple and proxy.