There are two types of surrogacy practiced in India, namely traditional and gestational surrogacy. Here is a brief description of both of these procedures:
- Gestational surrogacy: it is a kind of surrogacy that is mostly practiced in India and has also got a legal status in the country. This procedure is generally preferred as there is no genetic relation of a surrogate to the child whom she is nurturing. The gestational surrogacy is a process in which the eggs from biological mother and father are fertilized in the lab using in vitro fertilization.
The eggs are then transferred to surrogate’s embryo after three to five days after they are matured enough to implant in surrogate mother’s womb. As gestational surrogacy, do not make use of surrogate’s egg. Therefore, the child will not be related to the surrogate biologically.
Using the gestational type of surrogacy, the embryo is actually created by using both the biological father’s sperm and the biological mother’s egg. In most cases, fertilization of egg will take an ideal time of three to five days for the embryos to develop in the laboratory prior to transferring them to the surrogate.
After the embryo fuses successfully, it is then transferred to the womb of surrogate with the innovative medical techniques available for the same. Once the embryo is placed successfully into the surrogate’s uterus, the surrogate will carry the embryo through the pregnancy term until its birth.
- Traditional surrogacy: unlike gestational surrogacy, in traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is related to child genetically and acts both as the genetic and the surrogate of the child for intended parents. The surrogate is impregnated making use of a procedure called intrauterine insemination, or IUI.
In intrauterine insemination, or IUI procedure, the sperm from biological father is taken and is transferred to the surrogate’s uterus to help fertilization take place naturally. Thus, in traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is biological related to the child born ad because of this very reason, a number of parents do not wish to have a child born through eggs of another women instead of the biological mother. After the birth of a child through traditional surrogacy, intended father’s name is put directly on the birth certificate of the child. The intended mother then requires taking a step-mother adoption. Laws regarding this issue vary from state to state. Thus, it involves participation of a lawyer having the knowledge so that procedure can be done smoothly.
To practice any of the surrogacy mentioned above, a surrogate needs to stick to rules designed by the clinics. These rules differ a bit from one clinic to another however; some of the rules stated below should be followed by every surrogate.
- The women must not be a smoker and must be a educated lady, so that she can understand the process well prior to taking the decision of coming into the profession.
- Organizations do a thorough investigation about the background of a woman prior to accepting her as a surrogate mother.
- The woman also requires going under a medical examination to make sure she is physically fit for the intended job.
Facing infertility issue is of course a problem that can easily let a couple feel emotionally depressed besides providing them a lot of mental stress. However, proved IVF treatments and solutions to infertility are now a child’s play for surgeons. A number of cases are there that have strongly proved the miracle of science of bestowing infertile couple with their own child.