Gestational carriers (surrogacy)
What is a gestational carrier?
Whether you set it up through an agency or as an independent adoption, or negotiate it privately, using a gestational carrier is an emotionally intense and legally complex arrangement that involves having another woman carry and deliver your baby for you. It’s officially recognized in only a handful of states and is still illegal in others. The process can require vast amounts of time, money, and patience to succeed.
Is surrogacy for you?
Using a gestational carrier may be the best choice for you if you’re unable to conceive because your uterus is irregular or missing or if various other fertility treatments have failed.
Treatment: What to expect
Typically, you and your partner will undergo an assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) to produce an embryo that’s biologically yours. (If this isn’t possible because of the nature of your fertility problem, you can also use donated eggs, sperm, or embryos.) Your embryo will then be placed in the uterus of a gestational carrier who’ll carry the baby to term. When the child is born, the carrier will turn the baby over to you and sign away her parental rights.
Gestational carrier arrangements are usually set up either as independent adoptions (in states where they’re legal) or more commonly by contracts arranged through agencies. Some physicians specialize in gestational carriers and can help you make an arrangement. Most likely, you’ll be heavily involved in the pregnancy. You’ll also probably pay the carrier’s expenses, from doctor visits to housing, along with additional legal, agency, and service fees if a contract is involved. If you live in the United States, you can get information about your state’s gestational carrier laws here.
Length of treatment
Finding a healthy, willing gestational carrier can take months or even years, whether you screen candidates through an agency, canvass friends and relatives, or search for someone through the Internet (all ways in which couples have found carriers in the past). Once you’ve made an arrangement, you and your carrier will probably try in vitro fertilization for three or four months. Some experts say it’s not a good idea to try longer because success rates drop off after that.
Success rate
It’s impossible to assign a numerical success rate to using a gestational carrier — too many factors are involved. If you find a willing carrier and she gets pregnant and carries the baby to term (which depends on variables including sperm count, egg quality, and the success of complicated procedures such as IVF), you will have achieved what many couples don’t. The Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy estimates that in the United States, carriers have been responsible for the births of nearly 10,000 babies since 1976; the number is hard to pin down since some people make carrier arrangements privately, especially in states where the procedure is illegal.
Pluses
If you and your partner are unable to conceive on your own, a gestational carrier offers you a chance to parent your own biological child by having your carrier carry an embryo created from your egg and your partner’s sperm. If you set up an open arrangement, you can be intimately involved in the details of your baby’s gestation and have a say in your carrier’s nutrition and healthcare during the pregnancy.
Minuses
In addition to the possible complications accompanying procedures such as IVF, using a gestational carrier is expensive, highly controversial, and legally complex, often involving intricate contracts and arrangements. In several states, using a gestational carrier is illegal, forcing couples to make agreements under the table.
You’ll not only experience the usual suspense and anxiety of waiting for a pregnancy to safely reach full-term, you’ll also have to worry about legal snags and the possibility that your carrier will change her mind. You might have difficulty agreeing with her on things such as genetic testing and how to manage the pregnancy, labor, and delivery. And, when it comes time, your carrier might have a hard time letting the baby go.
Cost
The cost of using a gestational carrier varies widely. An independent adoption can cost at least $15,000, with about $12,000 going to the carrier and the rest for legal fees (set by lawyers and agencies). If you arrange a contract through an agency it can cost well over $35,000, with $10,000 to $12,000 going to the carrier, $15,000 or more to legal expenses, and $10,000-plus to agency fees. (Neither total includes additional fees for the carrier’s prenatal care and delivery if they aren’t covered by her insurance.)
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