What is Surrogacy?
There are two types of surrogacy: “gestational” and “traditional.” Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists works exclusively with gestational surrogates.
In gestational surrogacy, in vitro fertilization is used to transfer another woman’s fertilized egg, or embryo, into the surrogate’s uterus. In gestational surrogacy, unlike in traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother is not the genetic mother. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate’s egg is fertilized by artificial insemination.
Is Surrogacy Legal?
Surrogacy is legal in many states in the United States and in many countries. There are, however, some states and some countries where surrogacy is illegal. There are also places where surrogacy isn’t necessarily illegal, but the contracts are not recognized in court, which can lead to serious problems should something go wrong.
Due to the complex nature of surrogacy, it’s important you speak to a lawyer before agreeing to any surrogacy arrangement.
Who Can Become a Surrogate?
Our initial requirements to become a gestational surrogate are the following:
- Must between 21-40 years of age
- Must be a United States citizen or hold a permanent Green Card
- Must live in a surrogate-friendly state
- Must not reside in any one of the following states: MI, NE, NY, NJ, WA
- Has delivered at least one child
- Has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 33 or less
- Has no more than three (3) Cesarean Sections
- Is a non-smoker
- Is a non-drug user
- Is not currently on any anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medication
To Have And To Hold: The Rise Of Surrogacy In Britain
Despite the legal and ethical complexities that surround it, surrogacy is on the rise in Britain – and for some, it is the only solution to childlessness. Nicole Mowbray investigates.
I n the airy, chatter-filled lobby of a shared office space near London's Borough Market, people perch on vintage G Plan chairs sipping macchiatos, or tap away on Apple laptops around communal dining tables. Others, however, anxiously wait to begin one of the most emotionally arduous and legally complex journeys of their lives. Upstairs in this stylish space, with its iPad reception and aged-oak parquet floors, is the London headquarters of Brilliant Beginnings, one of only three surrogacy services in Britain.
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Brilliant Beginnings was founded four years ago by lawyers Natalie Gamble and Helen Prosser, who also run a law firm specialising in helping couples unravel the complex legal framework around surrogacy. Before its inception, there were only two recognised surrogacy services in Britain: COTS (Childlessness Overcome Through Surrogacy) and Surrogacy UK, both successful but run more informally, often by volunteers. Being "matched" at these two organisations usually happens at social events, where intended parents meet and make friends with willing surrogates. Gamble and Prosser's company is different. They do the matching for clients and guide both parties through the process. When we meet in May, two of their British surrogates are already pregnant, one with twins (Brilliant Beginnings works only with gestational surrogates, which means the women are conceiving via IVF with embryos rather than their own eggs). As well as working in Britain, they also set up and manage surrogacies in America — at a cost. The membership fee is £12,000, payable in instalments as the process moves along (it's £850 at COTS), but includes lengthy legal paperwork.
There has long been controversy surrounding the ethics of certain surrogacy arrangements abroad, but even in Britain surrogacy is far from straightforward, with laws being dubbed outdated and confusingly complex by many in the field. For example, surrogacy is legal in this country, but it is illegal to pay someone to do it. "Reasonable expenses", however, are permissible, as are "gifts". But what is a reasonable expense? Can someone give up work to focus full-time on the pregnancy and have the intended parents pay? Yes. What about massages and private healthcare? Also admissible. And what could be deemed a gift? A sports car? A Céline handbag? As the regulations are open to interpretation, there's little doubt that some couples or surrogates bend the rules, but receipts do have to be provided to a court after a surrogate baby is born in order to get the birth certificate in order. A case is looked into if, in general, more than £18,000 to £20,000 has changed hands.
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Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick with their children, two of which were born via a surrogate.
It is also illegal to advertise surrogacy or recruit for surrogates, which means there is a chronic shortage of willing women. In fact, there are only about 30 "official" surrogates active in Britain for thousands of intended parents. (The reason so many are forced to complete their families in America - mainly in California, as this state has strict laws around the process.) Wherever you do it, though, surrogacy is costly. Conceiving a child in this way in Britain with Brilliant Beginnings costs about £40,000, which includes fertility treatment, legal fees, agency fees and compensation for the surrogate. In Los Angeles (the clinical centre of the surrogacy industry, where surrogacy has been legal since 1993) it usually costs anywhere from £140,000 for a single round to £250,000 for twins.
The Babies of 2017
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The matching process at Brilliant Beginnings is necessarily laborious, and both parties are warned it could take two years to even get paired up - that's before beginning any clinical work to start the pregnancy. Potential surrogates start by writing a profile of themselves — they need to be over 21 and healthy, and supply a full obstetrics history and health records. Social services and criminal records checks are made, the potential surrogate's GP is consulted, references are taken and a verbal interview happens, over Skype or on the telephone, with both the potential surrogate and their partner or whoever will be supporting them through the process. There is ongoing counselling with a specialist surrogacy therapist and, finally, a home visit from the agency. If all goes well, a surrogate is added to the agency's books. The process is no less intensive for intended parents. They begin by writing a lengthy profile and a letter for potential surrogates, before criminal records checks and detailed personal references are taken and counselling is undergone. Before any surrogacy is confirmed, an agreement is drawn up and signed by both parties, setting out the expectations of the arrangement — levels of involvement, what is expected of each side, the process if there is a problem with the pregnancy. Some people are matched straight away; others have been waiting five years for a surrogate; some are turned down before the process has even begun because they are deemed unsuitable. "Our ultimate aim," says Prosser, "is that this is an effective, well-managed, ethical and happy process - for both parties."
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"The day of the pregnancy test, I travelled to the intended mother's parents' house, which is in a market town in Hampshire, not too far from where I live. I said, 'I'll pee on the stick and leave it to you.' I left her and her mum alone and a few minutes later they both came out to the garden crying and saying: 'We're pregnant!' It was lovely. "Since then, we message each other nearly every day. They're really relaxed and don't question what I eat or drink or anything, but for the first few weeks I did a pregnancy test every weekend just to reassure them. She came along to the six-week scan that she arranged and there's another booked in at nine weeks. And obviously both intended parents will be there at the birth, which is going to happen at my local hospital. This is their baby, I'm just carrying it for them. It is their egg and their sperm. In the future, they want me to be 'Auntie Kim' to the child, and for him or her to know how they came into the world, which is nice, but as they live in London I'm not going to be able to visit very much. We'll stay in touch."
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Sophie and her husband went to an agency in Los Angeles run by a surrogate and were matched with a woman who has now helped them to have a son, now nearly eight, and a five-year-old daughter. "I asked my surrogate why she did it and how she would feel when she had to give the baby back," Sophie says. "She told me that as a child she had watched her aunt struggle to conceive and that had spurred her on to help people as an adult. The joy of having a successful surrogate pregnancy was quite overwhelming. As an intended mother, you go on a long road with your surrogate. Of course, this wasn't the way I envisaged my pregnancy, but despite that, it was a really personal experience. I would have loved to carry my children myself, but ultimately I wanted to become a mother and my surrogate made that possible. She shared everything with me - I felt the kicking and I was at the birth, holding her hand through the C-section. It was phenomenal.
Having a baby between two people is complicated, but when there are four involved there's a lot to think about and unravel
Western Fertility sees patients from all over Europe, Asia and other American states. In the 11 years this clinic has been running, it has had 1,100 babies born. Dr Kumar tells me he saw a single man from Britain in his clinic today, plus a gay couple from Italy. All came to drop off sperm and have relevant blood tests. The couple picked two surrogates as they're having two children - one fathered by each man. If the intended parent(s) are looking to use an egg donor, they will then be shown the particulars of up to 100 different women to find their perfect match. "Clients usually find this very hard," Dr Kumar says. "We prefer to do it through our concierge, who matches people with the right donor. The client states the height they want, hair colour, eye colour - we can even match a level of intelligence or a specific talent.
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Having a baby between two people is complicated, but when there are four involved there's a lot to think about and unravel. Such as who is going to be at the hospital when the baby is born. The intended parents will want to hold the baby first, but who will cut the umbilical cord? Who will stand where in the delivery suite? How will the hospital deal with the fact that it will not be the birth mother who leaves the maternity unit with the child? Six weeks after the baby is born, the surrogate has to give consent for a parental order to be lodged at court, and this has to be applied for within six months. Then, all being well, the intended parents get a new birth certificate with their names on. The old one with the surrogate's details on it is sealed in the court documents.
