The term surrogacy is becoming quite popular with each passing day. Couples who are facing reproductive difficulties, surrogacy is an excellent option to provide hope to such couples to have a child. A surrogate mother refers to a woman who carries a child for another couple who cannot have a child on their own. If you are seriously considering surrogacy, the first decisions expectant parents and possible surrogates have to make is the type of surrogacy you want to go for. There are two major types:

  • Gestational Surrogacy
  • Traditional Surrogacy

Gestational Surrogacy

In gestational surrogacy, a surrogate mother carries the child for the excepted parents and have no biological relationship with the baby. The embryos are generated in the laboratory with the help of In-vitro fertilization (IVF) that are transferred into the uterus of the surrogate in the fertility clinic. The embryo formation is done using the expected mother or donor’s egg and the proposed father’s or donor’s sperm. The parents to be will be named on the birth certificate however the gestational surrogate denotes the mother, role of the legal process with this type of surrogacy establishes this fact. The expected parents then raises their child born via surrogacy after the baby is born.

Traditional Surrogacy

In case of traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother is the egg donor and hence is the biological mother of the baby that she carries in her womb. The embryos are then created by a process called Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) where the sperm is taken from the intended father or a donor. This type of surrogacy is also known as genetic surrogacy or full surrogacy since this process tends to be quite complicated, both legally and emotionally. This type of surrogacy is hence far less common than gestational surrogacy.

It is crucial for the expecting parents and potential surrogates to take into consideration all the following factors before deciding between traditional vs. gestational surrogacy:

Medical Process:

In general the process of IUI is quite simple, which needs the surrogate to undergo very less fertility treatments. Also, the expecting mothers does not require to take fertility medications or undergo the process of egg retrieva, as their eggs are not further used for creating the embryo.

Legal Process:

Traditional surrogacy laws tend to be far more complicated than gestational surrogacy laws. As in the case of traditional surrogacy the surrogate is the biological mother of the baby, however her parental rights need to be ended in a legal manner after the birth of the baby. It implies that the non-biological parent of the child needs to complete a step-parent adoption to acquire the parental rights. Such additional legal procedures are not needed in the case of gestational surrogacy, as parentral rights are established prior to the birth using a pre-birth order

Wait Time:

Gestational surrogacy is more popular and preferred because of its less legal complications that gets fulfilled in a short period of time.

Costs:

The gestational surrogacy tends to be pricier when compared with the traditional surrogacy as IUI is quite nominal when compared with IVF and involves lesser medical procedures and treatment for fertility.

There are various advantages and disadvantages to be considered while deciding whether traditional surrogacy is better or gestational surrogacy. eventually , it depends on the expecting parent and proposed surrogate mother who keep in mind their goals and priorities while going for either of the surrogacy, which is right for them.