When to Consider Surrogacy and How to Choose the Right One

For intended parents, surrogacy is the chance to finally achieve their dream of starting or expanding their family. For surrogates, it’s the chance to selflessly give the most precious gift to couples and individuals willing to become parents. 

Surrogacy is an extraordinarily rewarding experience for all parties involved. Fertility specialist and fertility preservation expert, Kutluk Oktay, MD, is a leader in the field of fertility. He and his team at Fertility Preservation Specialists and IVF provide prospective families with life-altering approaches to achieve your dream of having a child. 

In this post, discover important information about the surrogacy journey and gain deeper insight on what you should know about the process.

Types of surrogacy

A surrogate is a woman who carries and delivers a baby for an intended parent or couple. There are two types of surrogacy.

Gestational surrogacy

Gestational surrogacy is the most common type. When you choose gestational surrogacy, a surrogate who is not biologically linked to the baby carries a child. Sperm from the prospective father (or sperm donor) is collected along with the egg of the biological mother (or egg donor) to create an embryo. The process involves implanting the embryo into the uterus of the surrogate who carries and delivers the baby. 

Traditional surrogacy

Traditional surrogacy involves using the intended father’s sperm to fertilize an egg from the surrogate who carries and delivers the baby for the intended parents. With traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is biologically linked to the baby.

When to consider surrogacy

Surrogacy is a wonderful gift that helps aspiring parents overcome fertility challenges to reach their dream of having a child. Here are some of the most common reasons aspiring parents consider surrogacy.

• Trouble conceiving through IVF
• Medical issues that affect the uterus
• Previous hysterectomy
• Conditions that make pregnancy too high-risk
• Infertility of unknown origin
• Older maternal age
• Same-sex couples

 Innovation Fertility and IVF offers a full-service surrogacy program.

Choosing a surrogate

Support through our surrogacy program is here for you every step of the way in choosing a surrogate. There are many things to consider, and each parent possesses a unique perspective on their ideal surrogate.

Dr. Oktay helps intended parents choose the right surrogate to take the journey to parenthood with. Here are some key areas to consider when choosing a surrogate. 

• Age
• Lifestyle
• Location
• Personality
• Health history
• Willingness to carry multiples
• Pregnancy and delivery history
• Previous experience with surrogacy
• Openness to high or low level of contact
• Willingness to continue relationship after delivering child (if parents desire)

Trust and connection are two major aspects of surrogacy. Choosing a surrogate with whom you connect and trust leads to wonderful outcomes. 

Begin your surrogacy journey with Innovation Fertility Preservation & IVF today by calling our New York City office and speaking with our knowledgeable staff to schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Oktay. New and existing patients can also use our online booking request portal.