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Despite the controversy over surrogate pregnancy, since the 70’s it has made over 30,000 new parents extremely happy to experience the joy of parenthood, something they may have thought to be impossible. Surrogacy is not a new thing; stories of surrogate mothers can be found in roman plays and in the bible. If you have ever wondered about this controversial way to have a child here is a brief introduction to surrogacy.
Types of Surrogacy
- Traditional Surrogacy: Is artificially inseminating the gestational (birth) mother with the contracting father’s sperm.
- Gestational Surrogacy: When it is decided that the contracting mother will not be able to carry a baby to term, her egg and the father’s sperm are used to create an embryo that is implanted into the surrogate. With this method, the child has the contracting parents’ DNA and will not be in any way blood related to the surrogate.
- Gestational Surrogacy and Egg Donation: The gestational mother carries the embryo developed with a donor egg using the sperm from the contracting father.
Controversy
Many women wonder why any one would want to be a surrogate mother. Many surrogate mothers already have children and wand to share their fortune with people who cannot have children on their own. There is a lot of controversy over surrogate pregnancies because of the complications that can arise and the complicated legal situations. Rarely, there have been cases of surrogates wanting to keep the baby, intended parents not wanting the baby and moral issues with homosexual couples seeking surrogate mothers. Some do not understand the need for surrogacy when there are so many children who are already waiting for homes on orphanages. There are some that believe that it is like buying babies which is illegal however advocates of surrogacy define what they are doing as paying the surrogate for services provided (carrying and delivering the child).
Advantages
Surrogacy has its advantages. For couples that chose gestational surrogacy they have the chance to produce a child that is genetically their own, usually the reason they could not give birth on there own is because the contracting mother has found out that she cannot carry a child to term. Even with a different type of surrogacy usually at least one of the contracting parents is genetically related to the baby. With any type of surrogacy the contracting parents can be very involved in the pregnancy and birth unlike adoption.
Surrogacy is not cheap, it can cost you up to fifty thousand dollars but more commonly thirty thousand and there are many legal considerations to take and review. While surrogacy may not be for you it has made many dreams come true. Often a surrogate mother gets criticized or looked down on because it is a choice that is hard to understand for many people, but they are doing a wonderful thing. They help someone’s dream come true so how could that be bad.
