Different types of surrogacy ageements

Traditional or gestational surrogacy

There are two types of surrogacy according to the genetic relationship of the pregnant mother with the child: traditional (or partial) surrogacy and gestational (or full) surrogacy. In traditional surrogacy, the pregnant mother contributes her eggs and, therefore, has a direct genetic relationship with the child. Fertilization can be carried out naturally or, as is more usual today, by artificial insemination.

 In gestational surrogacy, the pregnant mother has no direct genetic relationship with the child. In this case, in vitro fertilization with third-party eggs and sperm are used. Sperm is normally provided by the intended father while eggs are provided by the intended mother or a donor.

Currently, gestational surrogacy is more common in commercial agreements since it presents a lower risk that the surrogate mother can obtain the legal affiliation of the child in case of a dispute.

Commercial or altruistic surrogacy

It is common to distinguish cases of surrogacy according to the presence of economic motivation. It is known as commercial surrogacy that in which the pregnant mother participates for economic consideration, while it is known as altruistic surrogacy that is done altruistically

In practice, in altruistic surrogacy, the mother receives financial compensation, although restricted to certain concepts such as compensation for physical discomfort, medical expenses, or income not received due to not being able to work for a period.

According to the trends in favor of the practice, what is reasonable depends on a balance that prevents commodification, that prevents the use of surrogacy to avoid the discomfort of pregnancy and other types of trivialization, and on the other compensates for time, inconvenience, the risks, and discomforts associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium.

For regulators, compensation is consistent with the recognition that compensation for donating gametes is ethical. It is also consistent with compensation for other situations, such as participation in medical research in which children Individuals are compensated for the time activities, stress, physical effort that they demand, and the risk involved in the studies in healthy volunteers. For them, compensation must be proportional to the time invested and based on the duration of examinations and previous evaluation of the pregnant woman, number of cycles until gestation is achieved, the duration of pregnancy and the puerperium, risks for employment, burdens on other members of the family, associated medical or surgical complications, etc.

Known or unknown surrogacy

In some cases, surrogacy agreements are made within the family itself. This raises some additional medical and ethical problems, especially in those cases where the resulting genetic relationship is equivalent to that of first-degree incest or consanguinity relationships. Even if there is no money involved, there may be coercion or moral pressure on the pregnant mother, especially in the case of daughters and sisters.

It’s important you check with a surrogacy lawyer before embarking in this journey. You can check this surrogacy directory

Independent Surrogacy

Independent surrogacy is a type of surrogacy where the intended parents or the surrogate don’t use an agency, contrary to the agency-assisted process, where a surrogacy professional will assist and support the prospective parents and carries during the whole journey, from the match you the birth of the baby.

In the following video you will find 11 tips for finding a surrogate without an agency.

 

Surrogacy in BC

Do you want to become parents through surrogacy? Have you considered British Columbia as an alternative for your surrogacy journey? If the answer is yes, in this video you will find helpful information for your process

In British Columbia, as in other Canadian Provinces, only altruistic surrogacy is allowed. This means that a surrogate cannot be paid for carrying a baby for the intended parents.

Hereyou can find more legal information about local regulation regarding surrogacy.

Things You Need to Know About Donating Your Eggs

Egg donation is a process in which a fertile woman donates an egg to some prospective parents to help them have a baby.

The procedure typically takes place in an IVF clinic and includes a doctor removing the eggs from the donor, fertilizing them in a laboratory, and then transferring the fertilized embryos into the recipient’s uterus.

The actual process of egg donation only takes a couple of weeks; however, the screening process can take up to six weeks.

How can I become an egg donor?

To qualify as a good candidate for egg donation, you must:

1. Be a female between the ages of 21 and 32 (this age limit can vary depending on the clinic)
2. Be a U.S. citizen or have the legal right to work in the United States
3. Have a healthy Body Mass Index
4. No smoking or drug use.
5. No reproductive disorders
6. Must have two ovaries.
7. Be available for approximately from five to ten appointments
8. Not getting any tattoos or piercings within the six months before initiating the donation process

Only a very small percentage of people who have expressed an interest in donating her eggs are eligible to donate.

Egg Donation FAQ

How many times can I donate my eggs?

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s (ASRM) guidelines say that women only donate up to six times in their lifetime, to reduce any risk in her reproductive health.

What disqualifies a potential egg donor?

Many reasons can disqualify a potential egg donors form donation, including lifestyle habits, health issues, and the incapacity to commit to scheduling appointments and medical screenings.

How can I donate my eggs?

You can donate your eggs through an egg donor agency, through a fertility clinic that runs a donor service, or doing a directed egg donation.

Why do I need to meet the egg donor requirements?

These requirements are in place to protect the health of potential mothers and babies.

What are the side effects of egg donation?

Some side effects of this process can be:

• hot flashes
• headache
• fatigue
• body aches
• Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)

Final Thoughts

It’s really important that you learn as much as possible about how egg donation works, and the risk associated with this process before starting your process.

 

 

Best Egg Donation Blogs

Find below the top ten egg donation blogs

www.myeggdonation.com

www.donorconcierge.com

www.fertilitysourcecompanies.com

www.fairfaxeggbank.com

www.theworldeggbank.com

www.weareeggdonors.com

www.definingmum.com

www.eggdonationfriends.com

www.motherhoodreimagined.com

www.stirrup-queens.com

www.eggdonorstories.com

LGBT Parenting

Whether you identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, or queer, it doesn’t mean that you have to go through life without having a family of your own.

If you’re considering to have a baby, here’s an overview of the various options to parenthood available to you.

Adoption and fostering

If a genetic relationship is not a key factor to you when it comes to your LGBT parenting options, you might want to consider adoption or fostering.

This option is a way of providing a new family for a child when living with their own family is not possible

The main difference between fostering and adoption is that in if you choose fostering sometimes these children will eventually return to their families. It’s difficult to know how long the children will be with you, sometimes this may take a matter of days or weeks in others it may take months even years.

Surrogacy

Surrogacyis an option for LGTB people wanting to have a biological child. Surrogacy is when a woman carries a baby for an individual or couple who cannot have a child themselves. For the intended parents, surrogacy can be an avenue to having a child biologically linked to them.

In some surrogacy process, an egg donor or a sperm donor can be needed. If this is your case, you must learn about the different types of egg donors (known, anonymous or semi known).

Last but not least, you need to know that in some countries with surrogacy friendly regulations, this practice is not allowed for LGTB couples, like Ukraine, so it’s really important you get in contact with a reputable local surrogacy attorney before starting any surrogacy arrangement.

Donor Insemination

Lesbian couples and single women may choose sperm insemination to have a baby. The sperm donor may be from an unknown sperm donor or from a family or friend.

Also, aa gay single individual or couple, you may wish to donate sperm to a single woman or lesbian couple. This is a way to help someone to achieve their parenthood dream.

Co-parenting

Co-parenting is usually an arrangement between two people, normally a gay man and a lesbian woman, who team up to parent the child together.

It’s important to know that, as a co-parent or co-mother, you will not have sole custody of the baby

Before moving ahead with any of these options it’s advisable to get legal advice at an early stage of your journey to understand your rights and responsibilities, and the local regulation that will apply to your circumstances.

Also there a lot of resources online that you can check to learn more about the different options available.

Remember, at the end, you are the only one who can decide which parenting options are best for you and your family. Luckily for you, there are many options to choose from to help make your parenthood dreams come a reality.

 

 

Some Good Tips To Find a Surrogate Mother

There are many people who want to become parents. Nevertheless, for some, the process of getting pregnant naturally is not an option and their dreams of having a biological baby can only be achieved via a process named surrogacy.

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The surrogacy process is a medical procedure that involves to place an embryo into the uterus of a third party woman who is called a surrogate. This woman will carry the baby until the birth.

There are two types of surrogacy, traditional surrogates and gestational surrogates. Gestational surrogates are also called gestational carriers and are the most usual surrogate type nowadays because they are not genetically connected with the baby.

Gestational Surrogacy is an opportunity for infertile couples, as well as same-sex couples or individuals looking to start a family. Contrary to adoption, surrogacy gives prospective parents the chance to have their own biological babies. But normally the most emotionally demanding phase in this process is to find a gestational surrogate who will carry the pregnancy.

During the surrogacy journy¡ey finding  a surrogate is probably one of the biggest challenges for the prospective parents thinking about surrogacy as an option to become parents.

How Do I Find A Surrogate?

There are far more prospective parents than there are gestational carriers. You need to know that waiting time for a qualified surrogate is often months or even years. There are two ways to find a surrogate mother:

• You can get in contact a reputable surrogacy agency or

• You can try to find a surrogate mother on your own. In this case, you’ll be pursuing an independent journey.

Surrogacy agencies usually have a lot of experience managing background searches and health history, however, the disadvantage of using an agency is that the cost will be probably as you will have to pay the agency fee.

What To Look For In A Surrogate Mother?

When you find a surrogate mother there are several things you should pay attention to.

Qualified surrogate mothers’ age should be between 21 and 45, they must have at least a successful pregnancy in the past and they shouldn’t smoke and be healthy.

The surrogate mother should be carefully screened at both medical and psychological levels, also she should pass a criminal background checks. In most cases, a social worker will perform also an in-home assessment.

Probably, the most important step of finding the right surrogate is the medical and psychological screening process and how comfortable you feel with her.

When you chose your surrogate, you must get to know her as much as possible (find out about her personality and goals and whether you will be well together) before you decide to move ahead and sign a legal contract. Finding the right surrogate for this year-long trip is a challenging choice to make.

What Questions To Ask A Surrogate Mother Before Matching?

After you and your gestational carrier have shown reciprocal interest you can match and start your surrogacy journey together. However, you must be sure that before you move forward you have asked all the questions and doubts you had.

Here you have a list of questions that you can use as a reference:

• Why did you decide to become a surrogate mother?
• What are your hobbies and interests?
• Are you married? What is your family like?
• What will be your support network during the pregnancy?
• What are your goals for this surrogacy journey?
• Are you aware of the possible risks involved in a surrogacy process?
• How will you tell your children about this journey?
• Do you have any issues with your previous pregnancies?
• How do you feel about carrying twins? And triplets?
• What are your feelings regarding selective reduction and abortion?

The goal of this first conversation is to find out if you feel comfortable with her and she is the right match for you. If after the first meeting you are not 100% sure, that’s totally okay; it may take time to be sure and comfortable with your potential surrogate mother.

Remember that the first meeting is an opportunity for you to ask questions to your surrogate, but remember that she will probably have questions for you too. Try to answer her questions honestly and transparently, in this way you will make sure you find the right match for you.

After the match, it’s important to grow the relationship between you and your Carrier having open to meetings, this will let you build a solid friendship with the person you will share an amazing journey for at least the next year.

Some Good Tips To Keep In Mind.

Look for surrogate mothers who show respect in caring for their bodies

Consider any potential risks for a pregnancy due to the heath or life-style of your prospective surrogate.

Stay open and transparent in all your communication, before and after the match.

In your first chat try to stay away from difficult questions about the surrogacy process, especially anything related to compensation. These kinds of questions can be discussed later on when you know each other better.

Take the time to get to know a surrogate, which will help you to build a strong and lasting relationship.

Next steps after finding a surrogate mother

Once you have matched, you can start with the medical and psychological screening and the legal paperwork. These two steps should be done before she will start with her fertility treatment. In order to complete these two phases, please ensure you find a reputable fertility clinic and an experienced family lawyer.

Finding a surrogate will be one of the most challenging steps of your journey, the surrogacy process is expensive and complex, and it’s important that you find a woman who will be willing to work with you and be fully committed with the process.

What Is A Surrogate?

When looking for a surrogate mother probably one of the first questions will appear in you mind: what is a surrogate?

You can look into internet and you will find several definitions about what is a surrogatemother but basically you need to know that is a woman that will carry your baby.

Surrogate mothers can be altruistic or commercial ones depending on the surrogacy compensation agreement you have with them.

Also they can be classified as gestational or traditional surrogates. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother will give her eggs to create the embryos, so she will have a link with the surro baby, on the other hand in gestational surrogacy there is no genetic link between the surrogate mother and the baby because the eggs will come from the intended mother or an egg donor.

As you can see there is more than one answer to the question: what is a surrogate mother?

In the following video you can find more info about what a surrogate mother is and some common surrogate mother requirements

Find A Surrogate Without An Agency

If you choose to follow an independent surrogacy journey and not use a surrogacy agency one of the best things is to create a surrogacy plan. To prepare this plan help you to identify your expectations, needs and goals and anticipate a lot of problems.

When you are an independent intended parents one critical step of your process will be to find surrogate mother.

How to Find a Surrogate Mother

There are several options to find a surrogate and learning about each possibility will let you to make the best choice. For example, you can talk to your family and friends and tell them your story and desire to become parent through surrogacy, sometimes the mouth to mouth can help you to find a surrogate, nevertheless this option implies that you need to share and be open and perhaps you don’t feel comfortable with this option. Also, you can join surrogacy communities online, matching websites, surrogacy adds places, Facebook groups for intended parents and surrogate mothers even tell your story in a local radio or newspaper.

It’s highly probably that you will be contacted by several surrogate mothers, and probably not all will be suitable for you because they don’t fulfill the requirements, they don’t share your goals or just because you don’t feel comfortable moving forward with them. In any case, you need to make a pre-screening process and also ask a lot of questions to ensure both parts are on the same page.

There is not a list with official requirements for being a surrogate mother but probably some common ones are:

• Age between 21 and 42
• Healthy Body Mass Index
• Non-smoker / no drugs / no alcohol
• At least one previous pregnancy
• Not history of major medical complications during the pregnancy

It’s important that before you choose a surrogate you find out what are the minimal requirements from your fertility clinic, because as I said, there is no official requirements and can slightly change from one clinic to another.

One problem that you can find if you use a family member or friend is that she will know a lot about your personal life, probably more than you might want.  It’s important that if you find a friend or family member to be your surrogate, you also need to draft a surrogacy contract in which the rights and obligation of both parts are described

To find the right surrogate mother you need to have prepared previously a list to know exactly what are your needs.

• Country/State/City
• Race
• Married/Single
• Working mother
• Fertility Clinic requirements
• Numbers of embryos to transfer (one or two)
• Others

After you have prepared your list you can start your research using surrogacy communities online, Facebook groups, posting ads in forums or local newspapers, etc

You can find more info in this video, how to find a surrogate mother on your own.

For more info about how to find a surrogate https://mysurrogatemom.com

 

How many embryos to transfer? Surrogacy Costs

One of the things you can take in consideration when deciding whether one or two embryos in your surrogacy journey is: what is the cost of surrogacy?

As probably you already know, Transfer two embryos instead of one can be seen as a riskier but cheaper option because we have to hire a lawyer, pay a surrogate mother, cover anew IVF process, paperwork after the birth, travels, hotels, etch so it can be seemed cheaper to do a single journey rather than two.

The cost differential is far less impressive than you think. For example in United States

• A surrogate mother will get more money for carrying twins (an extra 5000-10,000 USD)
• Cesarean is almost guaranteed, that means more money for the surrogate mother (5000-10000 USD)
• Bed rest and child care: there is a very good chance that your surrogate mother will need to be taken off work many weeks before term. You may have to pay her lost wages and sometimes for childcare because she can’t take care of her kids (she is on “bedrest”).
• Your time away from work: because of the double arrival, one or the two of you may have to take longer parental leave (usually unpaid) and might consider a long-term change in career. That’s costly.

On the other hand, a second journey is cheaper mainly because your embryos are already created, and some agencies will give you a price reduction for the second journey, or even you don´t need to hire the agency if you use the same surrogate mother. You could ask your agency upfront about it upfront: what discount would you offer for a repeat journey.

Although most twins do well and have a good outcome, having a singleton will significantly decrease your risks of major and minor complications although pregnancy rate per transfer is slightly lower with single versus double embryo transfer, but not by much. There’s so much one can’t predict when having children, the number of embryo transferred is the only variable you can control.

Having two repeat singleton journeys is fun, is not as expensive as you think. Having a twin journey is not as cheap as you think.  An remember !  your primary goal is to become a parent, not to have twins.

Learn more about surrogacy

• the implications of transfer two embryos here
• surrogacy cost here
• Surrogacy process and find surrogate mother here
• surrogacy community here