Gestational Surrogacy

While all surrogacy arrangements involve a woman carrying a baby for another person or couple, there are two basic types of surrogacy. Traditional surrogacy mother and gestational surrogacy.

Traditional Surrogacy Mother

With this type of arrangement, a woman is artificially inseminated with the sperm of either the intended father or a sperm donor. The child she becomes pregnant with and eventually delivers is genetically her own baby, as her own egg is fertilized as part of the process.

Traditional surrogacy is typically employed when a single heterosexual or gay male wishes to have a child and does not have a suitable female partner for carrying the baby. It is also employed when a woman wishes to have a baby and her eggs are unsuitable for some reason. For example, if a woman’s eggs are not viable or she has an inheritable genetic condition that could put her biological child at risk, she may choose to contract with a traditional surrogate instead.

Gestational Surrogacy

Gestational surrogacy is the most common of the two types of surrogacy. With this type of arrangement, a surrogate mother is impregnated with the egg of another woman; the egg is fertilized by the sperm of the intended father or a donor prior to implantation, via a process called in vitro fertilization. In such a case, the surrogate mother is not genetically linked in any way to the unborn child. For this type of surrogacy, the surrogate mother may be required to take fertility drugs to ensure successful impregnation.