Surrogacy is the act of one woman bearing a child for another and is often chosen in instances when a couple have experienced recurrent miscarriage or repeated failure of IVF treatment; women have a markedly abnormal or absent uterus; women have had hysterectomy; for same sex couples who need a host in order to conceive.

We offer surrogacy treatment at our clinic on Wimpole Street in London, but we are not involved in recruiting surrogate mothers. It is the patient’s responsibility to recruit their own surrogate mothers either through a personal search or via a specialist agency.

Types Of Surrogacy

Two types of surrogacy treatment are offered here at The Fertility & Gynaecology Academy. The first is host or full surrogacy where the surrogate host (woman bearing the child) receives an embryo that does not belong to her genetically. The second type is partial or straight surrogacy where the surrogate host supplies her own eggs. In this technique, the surrogate host becomes both the carrying and genetic mother.

The commissioning mother (woman receiving the baby) or couple will become the legal parents of the baby once they have been issued with a Parental Order. Before receiving this order they must satisfy certain conditions. Same sex and unmarried couples can also apply for Parental Orders as long as the conditions are met. Parents who are considering surrogacy are therefore strongly encouraged to seek legal advice.

Surrogacy Treatment

Surrogacy treatment requires thorough screening and preparation. The commissioning parents must undergo a clinical examination and provide a full medical history to highlight any possible implications. This includes factors like infectious diseases that could affect either the surrogate host or the baby. The ethical and legal issues are also discussed with the commissioning parents as part of the process.

The surrogate host or mother is also screened and tested. These tests include chromosomal karyotyping and fibrosis, which are required for both the egg and sperm providers. Just like the commissioning parents, the surrogate host undergoes a full clinical examination and screening to check for conditions that could be passed to the baby or affect the surrogate host’s pregnancy. Possible risks and procedures are discussed at length with the surrogate host and they are also made aware of any potential psychological and emotional issues. A blood test is taken for the surrogate host as well as urine, haemoglobin, syphilis, hepatitis, and HIV screening.

As the incubation time for HIV infection is quite long, the frozen sperm is kept in storage until the provider has undergone an HIV test six months after supplying the sample. The Fertility & Gynaecology Academy usually recommends that patients agree to sperm storage from the time of their initial consultation in order to save time when the surrogacy treatment begins.