Surrogate Babies: Where Can You Have Them, And Is It Legal?

When a woman becomes pregnant for another person’s benefit after giving birth, this is known as surrogacy. She typically bears the child for “intended parents,” a couple or parents who cannot conceive alone.

There are two main types of surrogacy that nearly every surrogacy agency offers. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother becomes the genetic mother because her egg was used for fertilization and embryo implantation. The intended mother or an egg donor provides the egg instead in gestational surrogacy. In vitro fertilization (IVF) fertilizes the egg before it is inserted into the surrogate mother.

Is surrogacy legal?

From one country to another, everything is different all over the world. All types of surrogacy are forbidden in certain countries ‒ France, Germany, and Bulgaria are only a few examples.

Fortunately, surrogacy is legal in many other countries, including the UK, some US states, and more, as long as the intended mother is not compensated or is only reimbursed for reasonable costs. It is unlawful to pay the mother a fee (a practice known as commercial surrogacy).

Some US states and other countries, such as Ukraine, have legalized commercial surrogacy.

If their country forbids surrogacy or cannot locate a surrogate, those wishing to become parents usually travel overseas.

Where to go for surrogacy?

India, Thailand, and Ukraine are popular choices for surrogacy agreements among parents.

The price varies greatly from country to country, depending on how many IVF cycles are necessary and whether health insurance is needed.

What are the possible complications?

As the parents aren’t initially acknowledged as the child’s legal parents, it might take a few months to bring a surrogate baby back to the parents’ own country.

In Ukraine, the intended parents are considered legitimate parents from birth, but the legal systems of many other nations accord the surrogate mother that status. Thus, you need a good fertility lawyer to establish parental rights in your country after returning there. Delivering Dreams International Surrogacy Agency can help you find one.

As for medical complications, nothing here differs from any other pregnancy and labor. A healthy child born from a surrogate won’t have any neonatal health complications if the clinic has a professional neonatal team.

Are there any risks for surrogate mothers?

The law is also necessary to ensure that clinics are properly governed and that women are rewarded, receive quality treatment, and provide their informed permission.

Without regulation, one possible risk for many surrogate moms is that the intended parents may abandon the child if born with a body anomaly. However, this is a sporadic case as both the intended parents and the surrogate undergo thorough medical testing to minimize the risks of conceiving a child with serious pathologies.

With good care from professional fertility specialists, a surrogate mother has a positive surrogacy experience. A team of doctors constantly monitors the risks, and any complication will be resolved when the risks appear.