What Is the Difference Between a Surrogate and a Gestational Surrogate?

Surrogacy is a type of reproductive technique that enables a person to have a child without having a biological relationship with that child. Surrogacy can be done by a man or a woman, and it involves either artificial insemination or artificial fertilization. It can be done by a man with another man or by a woman with another woman, and there is also gestational and fraternal surrogacy. In some countries, surrogacy is prohibited, while in others, it is only restricted to those who can afford it.

Intended parents are called natural or conventional parents in this case. They are the people who want to have a child without having a biological relationship with that child. In most cases, the individual who wants to have a child without being the biological father will be the male natural parent while the female natural parent will be the female intended parent. However, if the individual who wants to have a child without being the biological father is a female, she can be either the female natural parent or the surrogate mother. There is also gestational and fraternal surrogacy where both the surrogate mother and the surrogate father are involved. The surrogate must be genetically related to both the intended parents and the biological parents of the resulting child. Gestational surrogacy is when an artificial womb is used to gestate an embryo for someone other than the biological parents of that embryo. In traditional surrogacy, both the surrogate mother and the surrogate father are involved; however, in a trapped egg, only the surrogate mother is involved.

Surrogacy is an alternative to adoption when someone who wants to have a child without being biologically related to that child decides to use this technique. There are different types of surrogacies; including natural surrogacy, gestational surrogacy and traditional surrogacy. The intended parents reserve surrogacy when they feel they can’t have their desired baby without having a biological relationship with that baby. Through artificial insemination or artificial fertilization, intended parents transfer their genetic material to an individual who will give them their desired baby through implantation in her uterus. Then, they will raise that baby through foster parenting until he or she is mature enough to live on his own.

A surrogate or traditional surrogate is a woman who is genetically related to the child. A gestational carrier is a woman who carries and gives birth to a child for another couple or person (also known as intended parents). She has no biological connection to the child.

When using a surrogate mother through traditional surrogacy, the process is fairly simple. Doctors remove the intended father’s sperm and artificially inseminate it into the surrogate mother. After her egg is fertilized, pregnancy occurs. She then carried the baby until birth and handed it over to the intended parents.

However, it needs to be emphasized that there are major differences between surrogate mothers and gestational carriers. Because of the use of the surrogate mother’s eggs — not the intended mother’s — she is genetically linked to the baby.

If you are a heterosexual couple and decide to use a gestational surrogate, your doctor or fertility specialist will retrieve your eggs and fertilize them with your partner’s or spouse’s sperm. After the embryos are formed, the gestational carrier undergoes in vitro fertilization (IVF) and implants.

For same-sex couples and single parents, the process is similar except for one detail. Same-sex female couples need a sperm donor, and male couples need an egg bank. Single parents need an egg bank or sperm bank.

The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) states that pregnancy carriers (gestational surrogacy) have a 95% success rate for healthy deliveries. Depending on where you attend, some IVF clinics may recommend preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in order to transfer the healthiest embryos.

For the safety and well-being of everyone on the journey, healthcare professionals have developed a number of guidelines when determining an individual’s suitability for surrogacy. Certain risk factors were considered, including BMI, age, mode of delivery, or medical history of the surrogate. Likewise, the decision-making process takes into account the number of times a potential surrogate has already conceived.

In order to conceive a surrogate child, medical experts recommend that you have had no more than 5 previous pregnancies. Likewise, many women are no longer approved as surrogates after they become pregnant, which will be the surrogate’s sixth child.

Are you interested in surrogacy or having a surrogate carry your child? If so, contact us today to learn more about the stages of surrogacy and the types of surrogacy, and if you have any questions in regards to surrogacy, we can provide you with the most up to date information. Get quality medical treatment from The New Hope Center’s top reproductive endocrinologist, fertility physician Robin L Poe-Zeigler, MD, FACOG, and other specialists. For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We are conveniently located at Oceana Place 448 Viking Drive, Suite 100 Virginia Beach VA 23452. We serve patients from Virginia Beach VA, Rudee Heights VA, Lynnhaven VA, Linkhorn Estates VA and Dam Neck VA.