Surrogate Motherhood: The Process Of Surrogate Motherhood

Surrogate Motherhood “The first recognized surrogate motherhood arrangement was made in 1976. Since the late 1980s, surrogacy has been more common: between 1987 and 1992, an estimated 5,000 surrogate births occurred in the United States.” (Surrogate) Surrogacy is most commonly known as a relationship where one woman bears and gives birth to a child that is either for a person or a couple other than themselves. Surrogate motherhood can be accomplished in multiple ways, such that a man’s sperm can be inserted into the surrogate mother by a certain procedure called Artificial Insemination . Another way to surrogate motherhood is where the mother can produce fertile eggs but cannot go through with the pregnancy all the way until birth due to certain

There are a lot of steps and things to consider before you begin the surrogacy process as well as during the process. First, one must have been trying to conceive and having difficulty becoming pregnant or are unable to carry a healthy pregnancy all the way through. There are two types of surrogacy that someone must consider: traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. A traditional surrogacy is when the woman becomes pregnant with her own egg and a gestational surrogacy is when the woman is donated an egg. “Gestational surrogacy is much more common than traditional surrogacy these days, because it allows a wide range of different individuals and couples who need reproductive assistance to biologically parent a child.” (When) The next step to think about is whether or not the parents want to go through the surrogate process with an agency or independently. Going through with an agency during this process will help you not have to worry about the finances and legal issues that one must encounter if tackled independently. There are two different types of agencies that you can depend on: large agencies and smaller agencies. The only issue with the different agencies is that there is a big price difference between the two and there are also certain things that each agency will do for you. “Basically, a large agency "holds your hands" throughout the entire process, including assisting you when the baby is born. Expect to pay around $120,000 for a large agency, which includes insurance coverage for the surrogate.” (Step) Smaller agencies will help you along the way but there are some things during the process that you will have to do yourselves, therefore why it is less expensive than going through a larger agency. The last option would be that you go about it independently where you find your own surrogate whether it be a