Making the Choice to Participate in Surrogacy

When a couple gets married, it seems that their lives take one of two main courses. In the first course, the couple, after a year or so, decides to have children, thereby starting their family. In the second choice, the couple decides to remain childless.

For people who wish to make the first choice but, because of infertility, are in danger of making the second choice, there is the option of surrogacy. Usually, couples who are found to be infertile end up making the choice to either have in vitro fertilization or to adopt. However, surrogacy enables the couple to have biological children.

Those who think of surrogacy as being a controversial approach to having children have obviously not had to undergo the agony that childless couples must have to go through. The entire surrogacy process, when handled by a reputable medical association, is meant to be a very positive and fulfilling one for everyone involved.

So, how is the process done? First of all, the parents-to-be are going to have to undergo one medical procedure a piece. The man will have to give sperm, and the woman will have to have some eggs extracted.

Then, just as in the case of in vitro fertilization, the eggs will have to be fertilized in a laboratory. The process differs in that instead of the fertilized egg being implanted back into the mother's uterus, it is actually placed into the uterus of a woman who has been chosen to carry the baby for the couple.

There are a bunch of different reasons why couples choose this method. Some women, while able to conceive, are actually unable to carry a fetus to term. So, this is a way for a woman to still have the biological child that she has always wanted, and via a woman who has been determined healthy and able to have children.

As for how the couple and the woman come together, that depends on the agency that both parties choose to go through. In some situations, the parents have the option of selecting the gestational carrier via an application that she has to submit. In that application, she will probably need to include a picture of herself, as well as any biological children that she has.

In other situations, it is not the parents who choose the gestational carrier, but the other way around. The parents will have to fill out an application, and the woman will make her choice based on that. Of course, there will be initial meetings to make sure that the couple and the woman have good chemistry.

The parents-to-be and the gestational carrier will thus begin a bond that might even last beyond the nine months. After all, the parents generally will be following the woman to all of her doctor's appointments.

Thus, it only stands to reason that the couple will, most likely, develop a strong relationship with their gestational carrier. In the end, new friends will be made, and a baby will be born!