When should one consider opting for surrogacy?

Answer 1

Surrogacy is preferred when the couple has a medical condition that makes it impossible or unsafe to get pregnant or deliver the baby. Following are some of the reasons to consider surrogacy:

• Infertility in at least one or both of the parents: If the mother is infertile, the father’s sperms can be used for surrogate pregnancy. If both are infertile, donor sperms are used for fertilization.
• Recurrent pregnancy loss: This could be due to miscarriage, thyroid disorders, diabetes, lifestyle habits, chromosomal abnormalities etc.
• Woman has had a hysterectomy: This is the process of removal of a part of whole of uterus, hindering the pregnancy, which makes the woman impossible to get pregnant.
• Pregnancy could cause complications: When pregnancy could cause complications to the woman’s health.
• Persistent failure of other ARTs: When various other ARTs like Intra Uterine Insemination or In-vitro fertilization do not result in a successful pregnancy in the couple.
• Societal or marital status: When one of these is an issue, surrogate pregnancy comes as a boon.

Answer 2

Whether to opt for surrogacy is a personal choice. But often underlying physical and emotional conditions are a determining factor here. Here are some reasons when couples decide to opt for surrogacy-

Psychological Factors

A lot of women have an inherent fear of losing their body shape or types after having a baby. The entire ordeal of having a baby, the pain of natural birth and other similar reasons could be affecting them mentally. For millions of women this may sound weird, but this is a personal decision and out of this emotional fear, some women do decide to opt for surrogacy.

Biological Factors

In some cases, like gay couples, it is not biologically possible to have a baby. But some couples do want to have their offspring. In such cases, surrogacy is a boon because you can give your sperm and have an offspring with your genes. It is a viable option for such couples.

Medical Factors

Medical factors of course are the primary reason that couples opt for surrogacy. Due to chronic medical conditions, infertility, unfriendly womb conditions, constant miscarriages, etc. a lot of people prefer option for surrogacy. In particular, if having a baby leads to complications for the mother - couples prefer using their eggs and sperms, which is then injected into the surrogate mother. So, though a third-person is being the host to the baby, the genes of the child comes from the biological parents. This is also known as gestational surrogacy.