What do you need to know about surrogacy? Surrogates, intended parents, and donors
Many couples and individuals can’t have children due to genetic conditions, health problems, and physiological issues. Surrogacy is an excellent opportunity for them to become parents.
What is surrogacy?
Surrogacy is a fertility treatment for childless couples and individuals, where a surrogate mother carries a child.It requires medical and legal control. Both sides sign the contract, where the surrogate agrees to give full parental responsibility to the intended parents.Surrogate mother is a medically screened woman, who has had at least one successful pregnancy.
Who choose gestational surrogacy?
Surrogacy is a good option for people who want to build a family, but can’t give birth to their child, namely:
Every surrogacy is unique. The intended parents’ motivation and obstacles may vary, but their main goal is always the same – to have a healthy child.
Why choose surrogacy?
Surrogacy allows parents to raise the baby straight from birth. Also, the IP’s are involved in the pregnancy process and have the opportunity to be a part of it.
Infertile couples, single people, LGBT community members can become parents with surrogacy.
In most cases, gestational surrogacy allows one or both intended parents to be genetically related to the child
The surrogacy process is simpler than adoption. Moreover, those who can’t adopt a child for some reason still have a chance with surrogacy
Surrogate mothers already had a successful pregnancy experience. It means that the chances of carrying a healthy pregnancy are very high
What are the steps of surrogacy process?
The surrogacy process is not as complicated as it seems at the beginning. Below are the main steps that intended parents (IP’s) commonly need to complete:
- The country choice. The most popular countries for surrogacy are Ukraine and Georgia. These countries have the best laws, which allow the IP’s to get the full parental responsibility the child.
- The consultation. The couple or individual needs to understand all processes of the surrogacy journey. Our managers are ready to give you the full information about the surrogacy process.
- Paperwork. The WCOB team collects all medical history details, wishes, and comments on them before the surrogacy process.
- The surrogate mother selection. The main requirements are IPs’ personal preferences. Also, both sides need to have the same views on selective reduction and abortion.
- Medical evaluation for the IP’s. At this stage, the IP’s undergo evaluation to understand if they can be egg/sperm donors.
- Embryo culture. Our best embryologists cultivate embryos and do PGD/PGS testing. The testing identifies healthy embryos, selected for transfer and helps to find abnormal embryos that can’t be transferred.
- Embryo transfer. The surrogate mother undergoes the medical tests, and only after this, doctors transfer the embryo.
- Pregnancy confirmation. Two weeks after the embryo transfer the IP’s get the information about the result.
- Monthly reports. During the surrogate pregnancy, the IP’s receive medical evaluation reports, which contain ultrasound pictures, and test results (including alcohol, smoking and drug tests).
- Childbirth day. The IP’s arrive to see the first moments of the life of their baby. Our team provides all levels of support: accommodation, translation, and legal services.
- Birth certificate. After the baby is born, the IP’s get the full parental responsibility. The baby also obtains citizenship of his/her parents.
Who is the surrogate mother?
The surrogate mother is the woman who has agreed to deliver the baby for another couple or individual. According to the contract, the surrogate doesn’t have parental rights over the baby.
Only physically and mentally healthy woman with one or more successful pregnancies can become a surrogate mother.
Who are the intended parents (IPs)?
Intended parents are people who are unable to have a baby on their own and decided to start the surrogacy process.The IP’s become the legal parents of a baby born through the surrogacy agreement. Moreover, they are genetically related to the child – IP’s can use their oocytes and sperm for the In-vitro Fertilization procedure if they can.In case the quality of egg or sperm is poor, the donor ones are used for the surrogacy process
Who are the egg/sperm donors?
«Third-party reproduction» is the surrogacy process, which involves not only the intended parents and the surrogate but also a donor. Egg and sperm donors are used to give good quality reproductive cells. Donors are anonymous according to the Ukrainian legislation.
In case the intended mother can’t donate her eggs for medical reasons, the donor eggs can be used.
Donor’s eggs are fertilized with sperm of the intended father in the laboratory, and the resulting embryo is transferred to the uterus of a surrogate.
In traditional surrogacy, a surrogate mother can be an egg donor, but it is prohibited under the Ukrainian legislation.
Egg donors undergo all the necessary screenings, medical tests, and examinations to exclude any mental or physical disorders.
