What is surrogacy?

In this article:

Surrogacy – it is a reproductive technology in which a woman agrees to become pregnant, bear and give birth to a child for infertile couple.

Meaning and definition of surrogacy

Why do people choose surrogacy? This is a forced step when the family cannot become pregnant naturally or through IVF. In Ukraine, only married, heterosexual couples, approved for medical reasons, can use the services of a surrogate mother. Usually we are approached by families, if the woman has no uterus (or it is damaged by adhesions, tumors), if she had miscarriages or suffer from premature ovarian failure.

The law of Ukraine allows commercial surrogacy, including for foreign couples. What does commercial surrogacy mean? Potential parents and a surrogate mother sign a contract with the agency. The contract governs the relationship between the couple and the gestational courier.

Different types of commercial surrogacy

There are 2 types of surrogacy: gestational and traditional surrogacy.

Gestational – a surrogate has no genetic connection with the child. In short, the procedure looks like this:

Husband and wife donate their gametes (eggs and sperm).
The doctor fertilizes the egg and cultures the embryo.
The doctor transfers the embryo into the womb of a surrogate mother.
A woman bears and gives birth to a child, and then writes a refusal of the right to him.
The baby is registered in the name of genetic parents.

Traditional – surrogate mother is the genetic mother of the child. In this case, the surrogate mother undergoes the procedure of intrauterine insemination with sperm of a potential father or donate her egg. The oocyte is fertilized in vitro and transferred back to her uterus. Today, traditional surrogacy is not used for ethical reasons. The task of the surrogate mother is to “shelter” the baby for a while, and after childbirth return him to real parents. If a woman has a genetic connection with a child, then this task becomes arduous. Therefore, the law of Ukraine states that a surrogate mother cannot use her eggs in the program.

Information about gestational surrogacy in Ukraine: features of the use of gametes

Let’s take a closer look at how it is allowed to use genetic material. The ideal scheme is when both husband and wife give their gametes. Doctors fertilize the eggs, monitor their development, and at the blastocyst stage select one, two or three embryos for transfer. The rest will be cryopreserved. In the future, the couple can re-pass the surrogacy with frozen embryos. If a woman does not have her eggs (or they are of poor quality), then surrogacy with donor egg is applied. A donor is an outside woman who has no genetic connection with the parents or with a surrogate mother. Donor sperm is not used in surrogacy programs. The fact is that most countries (Germany, Spain, France) automatically consider as a mother the woman who carried the child. The affinity is set by paternal line. Now imagine the situation: donor sperm was used for fertilization>surrogate wrote a waiver for the child>DNA test does not show the affinity of the newborn with the father (the client of the agency). It turns out that according to the documents the child – is nobody’s. Such a situation should not occur. However, almost any male infertility allows you to get a healthy sperm. To do this, we perform procedures PESA, TESA, TESE, MESE, when the sperm is removed with a needle straight from the testicle. The effectiveness of the methods is very high, so the need for donor sperm is almost eliminated.

Gestational surrogacy in Ukraine: where to start?

We invite couples from all over the world to undergo this program in the capital of Ukraine – Kiev. Here are a few advantages of gestational surrogacy in Ukraine:

Legally

The state supports commercial surrogate motherhood and ensures that programs are executed efficiently. The law also recognizes his genetic mom and dad as child’s parents. We indicate their names in the birth certificate.

Price

The price of the program here is on average 30% lower than in other European countries. 2.5 times cheaper than in Canada, and 3 times cheaper than in the US. The quality of medicine, however, is high. In addition, the law does not define the minimum or maximum amount of compensation to a surrogate mother(i.e. Israel) that’s why here you can choose the best option.

No age limit

Some countries allow potential parents to use IVF or surrogate motherhood only up to a certain age (approximately 45–47 years old). In Ukraine, there are no such rules.

If you are planning to surrogacy abroad, contact VittoriaVita. It is legal, safe and easy!