Gestational Surrogate

What is Gestational Surrogacy?

Gestational Surrogate



They say that it takes a village to raise a child; well, in this case, it takes a village to give life to one.

As I am writing this, I am pregnant with a fifth child.

I delivered twins in 2007.

I'm sure your natural response to this news is "congratulations", but don't congratulate me.

They aren't my children.

They never were.

You see, I am their surrogate mother.

There are two types of surrogacy: Gestational Surrogacy and Traditional
Surrogacy.

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A Gestational Surrogate goes through an IVF (In Vetro Fertilization) procedure to become pregnant.

This is a medical procedure where embryos are created in a lab from the father's sperm and the mother's eggs, then the complete embryos are implanted into the woman carrying.



A Gestational Surrogate has absolutely no biological link to the child or children she carries. It does not matter if she has had her tubes tied, because it is not her eggs that are being used.

In addition to the IVF procedure itself, a Gestational Surrogate has a much closer tie with modern medicine than a traditional surrogate.

For several weeks prior to the procedure, as well as through the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, the Gestational Surrogate is required to be on multiple types of medication.

Some of these medications require daily and weekly injections.

These injections can be done by the surrogate herself, or by her partner. My husband did mine, and I know he took perverse pleasure in the fact that he got to cause me pain each night by shoving a large needle into my backside.

These medications are necessary to convince the body that it is pregnant and to sustain the pregnancy itself.


Gestational Surrogacy also has a higher chance of multiple births.

It was not coincidental that I carried twins.

Twins, triplets, and even quadruplets or more are quite common with IVF procedures.

You see, the cost of IVF is so great, and so often the procedures fail to result in any pregnancy, that doctors encourage parents to transfer more than one embryo into the woman carrying.

In my case, we transferred two embryos, and both embryos successfully attached to my womb for the first journey.

The second journey we transferred one embryo and were given a 40% chance that it would result in pregnancy.

It did.

Some women transfer more; three, four, even six is not unheard of. Some of these transfers result in multiples, others, one single baby.

Still many others result in no baby at all.

The process is lengthy.

In addition to the typical 9 months of pregnancy, Gestational Surrogacy requires months and months of legwork: interviewing, testing, lawyers, coordinating with a clinic, and transfers. It is not uncommon for a pregnancy to require more than one IVF transfer, as so many are failed.

Then there is the issue of money.

Becoming a Gestational Surrogate Mother requires a huge commitment of time, and physical and emotional stress. There is compensation involved, but a woman cannot go into this process with money as her main motivator.

Everything in your life will be affected. You'll be hormonal and pregnant, your husband will need to support you, your children will have to be told, you might have to change travel plans (I missed Christmas at the in-laws), you will have normal pregnancy restrictions (alcohol, foods, exercise), you might experience post-partum depression.

All the normal nuances of pregnancy will be upon you.

Plus, many women do not have it in them emotionally to carry a child for 9 months and then to give it back to its biological parents. For some women, the emotional strain would rival that of a woman putting her child up for adoption. These women should not become Gestational Surrogates.

When you examine everything that goes into Gestational Surrogacy, there is simply no way a woman can expect this to be a job, to be something she is doing "just for the money."

A woman has to be devoted 100% to this process, and has to truly want to give of herself, unselfishly, to help another family. Having said that, if there was not compensation involved, many surrogates would find it impossible to be able to commit to this process due to the time and family support issues.

Bottom line:
Don't view Gestational Surrogacy as an easy way to make a lot of money. View it as a huge commitment, a sacrifice for your entire family, and a precious gift that will benefit two families.

New eBook! From the Author of this Website: Stay a Stay at Home Mom How to Become a Gestational Surrogate Mother A Step-by-Step Guide from Decision to Delivery This eBook walks you through the entire process. Lawyers, contracts, compensation, all described and demystified. Click Here to Find Out More!

Visit the Information on Surrogacy Website

eBook: How to Become A Gestational Surrogate Mother

More info on Becoming a Surrogate Mother

What is Traditional Surrogacy?

What is Egg Donation?


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