1. Does surrogacy involve In Vitro Fertilization procedure (IVF)?
In fact - yes. IVF is an abbreviation that stands for "In Vitro Fertilization", i.e. fertilization outside the female body. The only difference in this case is that the ovaries of the surrogate mother are not hormonally stimulated in order to get several eggs needed for fertilization. The fertilized egg cells of a biological mother are transferred to a surrogate mother.
In this case, surrogate mother still undergoes hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to relieve symptoms associated with female menopause. In addition, doctors should warn a surrogate mother that a cesarean section could also take place.
2. What steps does the procedure consist of?
A man donates sperm either on the day of the harvesting of the egg from the ovaries of the biological mother, or his cryopreserved sperm is used after applying a sperm thawing protocol.
On the day of the retrieval (or defrosting) of mature female reproductive cells, they are fertilized by sperm. There are two ways of fertilizing them: either a portion of the sperm is added to each egg produced, or alternatively, a single sperm cell is injected into the egg using a micro syringe. This method is called IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).
"Processed" eggs are left for a day in a special incubator. The next day, the cells are evaluated for the presence or absence of fertilization. The fertilized egg is nurtured (or as the doctors say - cultivated) in the incubator for additional two or more days.
Embryos are transferred to the uterine cavity on the third or fifth day of their development. Usually, to women under 38 years old 2 embryos are transferred, over 38 years old - 3 embryos. The embryo transfer procedure does not require anesthesia. 12-14 days after the transfer, a pregnancy test is done to determine how successful the attempt was.
3. Until what age is egg retrieval possible?
As doctors explain, with age the number of healthy eggs decreases. And the sooner they are handed over for storage, the better. The optimal time is usually before a woman reaches 38 years of age. Although egg retrieval is possible prior to menopause, that is up to 50-60 years old.
Egg cells, sperm, as well as embryos (already fertilized eggs) can be cryogenically preserved in liquid nitrogen for a long period of time.
4. How a surrogate mother is selected?
Genetically, a child born to a surrogate mother is not her own. She is not responsible for his genetic diseases and a child does not bear physical resemblance to her. The risks of developing some defects are higher; the older the biological material is, that is the biological mother's egg cell.
A surrogate mother can be a woman aged 20 to 35 years old, healthy, without bad habits, which already has given birth to at least one healthy child. Biological parents can select a surrogate mother by physical features (which would be similar to them); however, it is not necessary, but rather conditional, since it will be them, who will transfer their genetic data to their unborn child, and not a surrogate mother, who is just a carrier. The surrogate mother can not be an egg donor, as then she becomes a biological mother of a child.
That is why psychologists work in fertility clinics, who select among surrogate mothers those who are psychologically prepared to withstand this rather difficult moral procedure - to carry a child for nine months who pushes, lives inside, and then give away him/her to biological parents. Psychologists help both surrogate mothers and biological (commissioning) parents to avoid the possibility of psychological complications resulted from emotional attachment to a living creature in the surrogate mother
5. What legal procedures are required to protect a surrogate mother and biological parents after a child is born?
As a rule, almost all fertility clinics and medical centers employ highly professional and experienced lawyers, who prepare a contract to be signed by a surrogate mother and intended parents under which she undertakes to write a waiver of any parental rights after a child birth.
Simultaneously with the document confirming the fact of the birth of the child, a surrogate mother provides a written consent to the intended parents stating that they are the legal parents of a born child. The birth certificate issued afterward contains the names of biological parents only.
The Network of Reproductive Medical Centers (ISO 9001:2015 certified) “Mother and Child” that employs the highly renowned reproductive embryologists and the long-standing members of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine (UARM) has been successfully involved for over eleven years in practical application of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and various types of surrogacy programs at affordable cost that resulted in birth of 9,074 healthy children and helped thousands of people throughout the world to find the happiness of parenthood.