Why Would Someone Need A Surrogate?

Gestational Surrogacy is a medical process through which an egg and a sperm are combined in IVF procedures to create an embryo, and then are transferred via IUI to a surrogate, who carries the child to term. The child is not related to the surrogate biologically but is related to the Intended Parents. So why don’t parents seeking surrogates adopt? Simply put, they want a biological child. 

Intended Parents seeking surrogates are looking for a way to grow their families biologically, without a member of the couple needing to be pregnant. There are many reasons to do this – most of them medical. However, people who do not understand surrogacy will misconstrue the reasons that someone may seek a surrogate or embellish on existing myths surrounding the surrogacy journey.

So, why would someone need a surrogate?

Infertility

The most common reason to seek out a surrogate is medical infertility on the part of the Intended Parents. There are many reasons that these couples find themselves infertile, but surrogacy allows them to create an embryo and implant it, resulting in the children they desire.

One reason for Medical infertility is being in a same-sex couple. Many cisgender men in same-sex relationships want to reproduce biological children and grow their families. Because of their physiology, they are not able to be pregnant. Getting a surrogate and an egg donor creates the opportunity for them to reproduce the way they want. Likewise, for non-cisgender men, surrogacy is gender-affirming. We recognize that even if they have the equipment to carry a child to term, it is psychologically detrimental to do so.

For women who are experiencing infertility, many of them are able to get pregnant through traditional means, IVF, or IUI means, but cannot carry the pregnancy to term. These people should not have to suffer through multiple miscarriages to bring a child into the world. A surrogate alleviates this mental burden. Age is also a factor in infertility. Some women lose fertility at a younger age than others, while some are not in a position to have children until a later point in life.

Similarly, unexplained infertility affects one in eight couples. Due to physical problems with their bodies, uterine issues, pre-existing health conditions, medications that affect a pregnancy, and hysterectomies as a result of cancer, or something undiagnosable, many women cannot carry a child or get pregnant. In recent years conditions like endometriosis and PCOS have gained a larger awareness, which are two examples of conditions that prevent or make pregnancy more difficult. 

Mental & Medical Reasons

Many people have life-threatening conditions that occur in during pregnancy such as preeclampsia. Kim Kardashian has publicly had surrogates carry her younger children due to the life-threatening nature of her first two pregnancies. Following the birth of her second child, her doctor refused to clear her to have any more children due to its serious nature. Preeclampsia and other pregnancy-related medical conditions can affect anyone and many of them are undiagnosable until a pregnant person’s first pregnancy. Infertile couples should not have to cut their family planning short due to unanticipated conditions.

Similarly, there are a host of life-saving medications that affect fertility or make carrying a child to term dangerous for the fetus and the pregnant person. With access to today’s modern medicine, parents should not have to choose between having children or their own lives.

Mental health is just as important as physical health when it comes to reproduction. Some people have experienced intense trauma regarding sex or pregnancy. With societal issues like teenage pregnancy, forced birth, traumatic pregnancy, and sexual assault, many people who would like to have children cannot mentally carry the load of giving birth. This is a good reason to get a surrogate.

It can also be advised that certain people not have more children, not because of pregnancy complications but because of severe postpartum conditions. Those with extreme postpartum depression should acknowledge those feelings as valid and seek out other means of family planning to have more children if that’s a part of their plan.

Other

There are some other reasons to seek out surrogacy, such as being a single individual ready to start a family, when adoption is not an option for the family, or even for personal reasons. Recently, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra welcomed a child via surrogate, following issues conceiving a child. This could be considered a personal reason. 

If you were on the fence about why surrogacy is needed or may be trying to broaden your horizons about it, consider all of these reasons when hearing about surrogacy. Despite the wonders of modern medicine, infertility and medically required alternate family planning is still a very taboo topic in today’s society. If someone needs a surrogate, they are more likely to tell you it is for personal reasons than to let you into that part of their lives. Anyone should be able to grow their family however they please. Adoption is not a blanket solution to infertility or being a same-sex couple, and to treat it that way is disrespectful to everyone involved.

If you would like to learn more about Surrogacy, please reach out to us here.