Traditional surrogacy
This is where a woman acts as a surrogate to carry the pregnancy, but has offered her egg(s)
The egg is from the surrogate. The sperm could be from the father or a donor.
The intended parents can be traditional couples, male-male couples, female-female couples and single men and single women. It’s more complicated and more expensive than gestational surrogacy.
Why choose this path?
For some intended parents, it could be the best option if they are unable to use their own eggs. It could be because one partner has a medical condition that they do not want to pass on or they cannot carry the pregnancy.
How traditional surrogacy works
- A surrogate is chosen and screened to ensure a clean bill of health
- All parties involved sign a consent form to help avoid future problems
- The surrogate takes medication to stimulate multiple eggs and speed up growth
- When ready, the eggs are retrieved from the surrogate and fertilised with IP father’s sperm or donor sperm in the laboratory
- Embryos are then placed back in the surrogate where they will hopefully implant
- The embryos are ‘fresh’ or defrosted from egg storage
- The surrogate delivers the baby
- The baby goes home with the intended parents
Another option with surrogacy is using IUI. A surrogate is artificially inseminated through IUI with the intended father’s sperm (as opposed to IVF fertilisation in a lab). Her eggs are also used.
