What is gestational surrogacy?

Surrogacy is type of agreement where a woman carries baby for commissioning couples. There are two types of surrogacy; altruistic and commercial which is also referred as traditional and gestational. In traditional surrogacy, a substitute mother is impregnated through artificial insemination process where the sperm of a commissioning or intended father is injected to the ovum of a surrogate mother. The baby born through this process is biologically connected to the intended father and the surrogate mother. However, this process is considered illegal in many states and banned. Therefore, most of the surrogate agencies and commissioning couples prefer gestational surrogacy process. It is one of the most common type of surrogacy and most popular method of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technique).

In gestational surrogacy process, a substitute mother is impregnated through In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment. In this therapy, the intended mother or donor egg is taken out and protected in the laboratory; meanwhile, sperm is taken out form the intended father or donor to fertilize the egg. When the sperms are combined with the ovum, it penetrates and fertilizes the ovum within few hours. The fertilized egg is then cultured in the laboratory for four to six days. Once the fertilized egg appears in the fluid form, it is implanted into the uterus of a substitute mother. She then carries the zygote for nine months and delivers a healthy baby. The child born through this procedure is biologically connected to the commissioning couples only if their sperms and eggs are used to form zygote, else it is biologically related with the donor who remains anonymous.