- In fertility medicine, a surrogate is a woman who carries a pregnancy for another individual or couple.
- A traditional surrogate carries the pregnancy using her own egg that is fertilized with the sperm of the intended father.
- A gestational carrier (GC) is a woman who carries a pregnancy using the egg and sperm of the intended parents, which are implanted into the GC after in vitro fertilization (IVF).
- Gestational carriers are nearly always preferred in order to minimize genetic relation of the child to the surrogate; if the intended mother's eggs are not viable, a donor's eggs may be used.
- A surrogate is typically compensated for her effort, time and expenses
- There are two different types of surrogacy: Traditional surrogacy and gestational carrier surrogacy. A traditional surrogate is impregnated by the sperm of the intended father, either through intrauterine insemination (IUI) or IVF. The child born by a traditional surrogate has the surrogate mother's genes and not the genes of the intended mother.
- With a gestational carrier (GC), pregnancy is achieved by implanting the fertilized embryo created in IVF using the intended mother's egg and the intended father's sperm. With a GC, the intended parents are both genetically related to their child born by the surrogate.
- Because of this genetic relation, most couples seeking surrogates choose a gestational carrier over a traditional surrogate. If the intended mother's eggs cannot be used (for health or genetic reasons), the intended parents may choose to use a donor egg so that the gestational carrier is not genetically related to the child.
- Surrogates are often compensated for their time, effort and living expenses incurred during pregnancy. Commercial surrogacy involves paying a surrogate a base rate in addition to paying for all medical expenses.
