Surrogacy and Gestational Carriers

RSC is committed to helping couples select the finest agencies for all third-party services. We want our patients to work with agencies that provide careful screening and uphold strict criteria for egg and sperm donation and gestational carriers. This ensures highest medical safety and protects couples from potential legal complications.

Surrogacy

Traditional surrogacy involves the use of a third party to carry a baby in which the third party provides her egg and her uterus to achieve conception and carry the pregnancy. This involves placing the male’s sperm into the surrogate’s uterus at the fertile time of the cycle, utilizing artificial insemination (AI). The surrogate conceives, carries the pregnancy to term, and delivers the baby. We DO NOT provide Traditional Surrogacy services.

Many gay couples have successfully utilized surrogates in order to have babies with their own sperm.

In other cases, women with certain reproductive disorders also achieve healthy babies through surrogates. These mothers face conditions such as:

• No uterus or abnormal uterine cavities
• Recurrent miscarriage
• Numerous failed IVF attempts
• Menopause or advanced maternal age
• Premature ovarian failure
• Genetic disorders of the female
• Severe ovulatory disorders (refractory polycystic ovaries, fertility drug insensitivity, etc.)
• Severe endometriosis which has damaged the ovaries

Gestational carriers

A gestational carrier is a woman who agrees to carry a baby through pregnancy for another couple. The carrier provides only a host uterus for the offspring and does not contribute genetic material, which may come from the egg and sperm provided by the couple or from a combination of recipient egg and donor sperm.

Eggs are harvested from the female partner, fertilized in the lab with the male sperm via artificial insemination (AI) and the resulting embryo is transferred into the gestational carrier’s uterus at a specific time during the cycle. The gestational carrier is usually given hormones to help prime and time the uterus for conception.

• Disorders of the uterus and tubes that indicate use of gestational carriers include:
• Previous hysterectomy
• Surgeries for fibroids (myomectomy)
• Damage from infection or IUD (Dalkon shield)
• Congenital uterine abnormalities (DES exposure)
• Severe pelvic adhesions that distort the uterus or bowel

Some female medical conditions may also preclude a woman from tolerating the physiologic changes of pregnancy that could be life threatening, such as:

• Severe cardiac or renal disease
• Brittle diabetes
• Active Lupus
• Estrogen dependent cancers( breast or other)
• Other disorders which require the use of medications which are potentially dangerous to the developing fetus

Other possible indications that may indicate use of a surrogate or gestational carrier include:

• Previous unexplained infertility
• Numerous failed IVF attempts
• History of ectopic pregnancies
• Emotional factors
• Pelvic disabilities where the weight gain of pregnancy can put undue pressure on the back, legs, or pelvis

Gestational Carrier and Surrogacy Referral Information