Surrogacy

Surrogacy arrangements are when a woman, known as the surrogate, carries a baby to term on behalf of intended parents who are medically unable to carry a pregnancy themselves. This is often necessary when a woman in a relationship has no uterus or has a uterus which is not able to carry a pregnancy.

In gestational surrogacy, pregnancy results from the transfer of an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) into the surrogate, who would carry the pregnancy for the intended parents. This could be done with either the sperm and eggs of the commissioning couple or with donor eggs/sperm.

Surrogacy is a very complex procedure because legal experts will need to draw up contracts between the commissioning parents and the surrogate.  The surrogate will need to be screened, and so, often, a psychologist will need to be involved to ensure all parties fully aware of the magnitude of the process.