Surrogacy Types and Comparison

Surrogacy is a promising treatment for infertility. It can potentially solve many intolerable difficulties that the infertile couples and their families face. A Surrogate or Surrogate Mother is a woman who bears a child on behalf of another woman, either from her own egg fertilized by the other woman’s partner or from the implantation of a fertilized egg from the other woman in her uterus.

A couple, who want to have baby through surrogacy, has to take a decision on the type of surrogacy they want to pursue.Surrogacy is categorized into two types:

Traditional Surrogacy

In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is biologically linked with child she carries thus this surrogacy is also known as partial or genetic surrogacy. The genetic relationship between child and surrogate makes traditional surrogacy emotionally complicated. Traditional surrogacy is mostly used by single men, same-sex male couples and women who cannot produce healthy eggs because they need a donor’s eggs. When the intended surrogate is inseminated with the semen of the husband of the couple, the procedure is known as straight surrogacy or traditional surrogacy.

Gestational Surrogacy

Gestational surrogacy, also called partial surrogacy or host surrogacy, is the most common type of surrogacy today. In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate mother is not genetically related and will be free from all responsibilities after delivery of the child.

  • When a sperm or an ovum is donated by a third party, fertilized by IVF, and transferred to a surrogate, it is called Gestational Partial Surrogacy.
  • If both the sperm and ovum are donated by a third party, fertilized by IVF, and the resulting embryo is transferred to a surrogate, it is known as Gestational Full Surrogacy.

Traditional Surrogacy Vs Gestational Surrogacy

The major difference between gestational and traditional surrogacy is the surrogate’s biological connection to the child. Before opting surrogacy as an option, intended parents need to consider all of the following factors to decide between traditional vs. gestational surrogacy:

  • Medical Process: Traditional surrogacy uses IUI, whereas gestational surrogacy uses IVF as medical procedure.
  • Legal Process: Traditional surrogacy laws tend to be more complicated than gestational surrogacy laws. In traditional surrogacy, surrogate mother also has parental rights and need to be terminated after the baby is born.These additional legal procedures are not required in the gestational surrogacy process.
  • Costs: The cost of gestational surrogacy is considered to be higher than that of traditional surrogacy. This cost difference is due to the different medical process it involves. IUI is less expensive than IVF and tends to involve fewer medical procedures and fertility treatments.
  • Risks: Traditional surrogacy contains a greater emotional and legal risk than gestational surrogacy. In traditional surrogacy, being the biological mother of child, surrogate mother may possess emotional feelings for the baby. In that case, she can theoretically challenge the surrogacy arrangement in court, which could result in a lengthy and expensive legal battle for everyone involved.
  • Acceptance: Traditional surrogacy is banned in many countries including India due to its legal and emotional complications; whereas this is not the case with gestational surrogacy.

When Couples Should Think About IVF Treatment?

IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) is a process that provides couples an opportunity to have a baby when other treatments have failed or are not appropriate. But the major question is, what are the conditions and factors to opt for IVF treatment?

There are some medical conditions in which couples should think about an IVF treatment.

Infertility

(IVF) has become an established treatment for many forms of infertility. Infertility can be in women or men both. Usually, infertility means not being able to get pregnant even after one year of unprotected sex (or six months if a woman is 35 or older). Following are some reasons in which IVF is helpful to conceive a baby.

  • Fallopian tube damage or blockage.
  • Ovulation disorders.
  • Premature ovarian failure.
  • Endometriosis
  • Uterine fibroids.
  • Previous tubal sterilization or removal.
  • Impaired sperm production or function.
  • Unexplained infertility.

Genetic Disorder

A couple can opt for IVF treatment if either of the partner has a genetic disorder that they do not want to pass on to their baby. In this case, healthy egg or sperm is taken from donor and fertilized in lab using IVF.

Genetic Disorder
                                                  Source: redorbit.com

Fertility Preservation for Future Use

IVF treatment is helpful in fertility preservation to freeze eggs or sperm for future use. If either of the partners is suffering from cancer and about to start a treatment, they can arrange to freeze their healthy eggs or sperm, as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can harm fertility. These eggs or sperm can be thawed later and used in IVF once the cancer treatment is over.

fertility-preservation
                                                 Source: obgyn.mcw.edu
Apart from medical conditions, there are some factors that lead couples to opt for IVF treatment.
  • The couple should be financially strong or must have a financial source for treatment; as IVF treatment is an expensive process.
  • The couple should be determined and patient enough to conceive a baby by this method; because IVF treatment may not be successful in one cycle and may require two or three cycles for result.