Surrogacy has been around for a long but has only become a practical option for everyone in recent times. If you have agreed to be a surrogate mother to a couple who cannot conceive or a single parent, you are looking forward to a journey of many emotional, hormonal, mental, and physical changes in your body. But it is also a very fulfilling experience to help someone have a baby they can call their own.
If you have agreed to become a surrogate, you will come face to face with many terms you may want to know in advance. Let us look at all of them for a better understanding of the process-
Surrogacy:
It is a medical process in which a woman agrees to carry a pregnancy and deliver the child of intended parents unable to conceive for several reasons. It involves many phases that both parties must go through in synchronization to achieve success.
Intended Parent(s):
The couple or individual who becomes the parent after the delivery of the child is the intended parent. In most states where surrogacy is legal, the surrogate only remains the birth mother, and her name is not mentioned on any legal paperwork related to the child. In most cases, the intended father is the sperm donor; hence, the legal father is genetically related to the born child. The intended mother becomes the child’s legal mother and has her name on the birth certificate. In states without specific legislation on surrogacy, the birth mother will be mentioned in the child’s birth certificate and become the legal mother. The intended mother will have to complete the court process for adoption to remove the surrogate’s name from the document.
Surrogate:
The woman who agrees to carry the pregnancy is known as the surrogate mother, gestational carrier, or birth mother. A surrogate mother gives complete custody of the born child to the intended parents and may or may not have any connection to the family in the future. The surrogate is paid for the efforts and energy she invests during the entire year of the surrogacy process.
Commercial Surrogacy:
A type of surrogacy in which the surrogate mother is financially compensated for her efforts. Mostly a surrogacy agency is involved in commercial surrogacy to help the intended parents with the entire procedure, like finding a suitable surrogate, getting medical and legal help, and managing clinical appointments for both the parties.
Altruistic Surrogacy:
The type of surrogacy in which no party benefits financially, and the surrogate is only compensated for the costs she may incur out of her pocket. It mostly does not involve an agency, so the process becomes lengthy.
Traditional Surrogacy:
The surrogacy where the surrogate also provides her egg. The intended father directly inseminates her through intrauterine insemination, where the semen is injected into her uterus. A traditional surrogate is hence the biological and birth mother of the born child. It is legally risky as the intended mother may not have parental rights over the born child in some jurisdictions.
Independent Surrogacy:
The surrogacy agreement where the intended parents do not involve an agency is called independent or private surrogacy. You may opt for independent surrogacy to avoid paying high surrogacy agency fees, surrogate compensation, medical and psychological assessment fees, and legal costs. However, it is risky as omitting essential evaluations may have serious consequences for the intended parents.
Gestational Surrogacy:
The surrogacy in which the embryo is artificially conceived through In-Vitro Fertilization in a lab. The egg and sperm are from the donor or the intended parents but never from the surrogate. The birth mother is never related to the child genetically and only carries the pregnancy for the intended parent. It is legally a safer method as the intended parents are genetically related to the child, simplifying parental complications.
Egg Donor:
In cases when the intended mother cannot provide fertile eggs for the surrogacy, the agency hires an egg donor artificially fertilized and transferred into the surrogate’s uterus.
Donor Cycle:
A donor cycle comes into play when an egg donor is used to get artificially fertilized by the intended father’s sperm. The cycle is six to eight weeks long.
Self-Cycle:
A fifteen-day-long self-cycle is involved when the intended mother provides her eggs for surrogacy.
About Rite Options-
If you wish to become a surrogate mother and help couples become parents in New York, you can visit and register with Rite Options. We are a full-service agency, from finding a perfect match to coordinating all medical, legal, psychological, and travel arrangements. Visit or call 1(516)512-8888 for more information.
