Using a surrogate mother to have a baby still facing some controversy.The legal process is also tricky because it varies from state to state. Even so, whether it’s because of fertility problems or other reasons, surrogacy is an option for the partners or couples who want to have a baby of their own.
Kim and Kanye have just announced the birth of their third baby via a surrogate. Kim suffers from a condition called placenta accreta, which caqncause severe problems to mother and baby during and after pregnancy. This is why they decided it was safest to use a surrogate. It’s an extremely big decision, but one that’s been vital in helping people have babies who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
Metro: WHAT IS A SURROGATE MOTHER?
Surrogacy is when someone carries a baby for another person or couple, giving the child to them once it’s born.
Well, there are two types of surrogate mother.
1. Traditional Surrogates
This method involves insemination of the surrogate mother by the sperm of the intended father.
The baby will technically be related to the surrogate, but an agreement will be made so that the intended father (and a partner, if he has one) will raise the child.
Sometimes a sperm donor may also be used in this instance, but the insemination will still happen in a traditional manner. If donor sperm is used, there can be issues around custody – since the baby won’t be biologically be related to either intended parent (but will be related to the surrogate). In that case, standard adoption procedures may need to take place.
Image credit: India Today
2. Gestational Surrogates
This is different in that the insemination happens via IVF (in vitro fertilisation).
There are a few different combinations of how this embryo is created:
> Intended parents’ sperm and egg
>Donor egg and intended father’s sperm
>Donor sperm and intended mother’s egg
>Donor sperm and egg Donor embryo (which may be donated by someone who’s gone through IVF and had one left over)
One of these sperm/egg combinations will be implanted into the surrogate mother, meaning the baby will not be related to the surrogate in any way.
WebMD: In the U.S., gestational surrogacy is less complex legally. That’s because both intended parents have genetic ties to the baby. As a result, gestational surrogacy has become more common than a traditional surrogate. About 750 babies are born each year using gestational surrogacy.
Surrogates stand at Dr. Nayanaben Patel’s infertility center in the district of Anand in Gujarat in 2011, before restrictions were placed on commercial surrogacy in India.Photo by Vijayanand Gupta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images Source: newsdeeply.com
WHO USES SURROGATES?
If you’re a woman, you may consider a surrogate for several reasons:
- Medical problems with your uterus
- You had a hysterectomy that removed your uterus
- Conditions that make pregnancy impossible or risky for you, such as severe heart disease
You may want to think about surrogacy if you tried but couldn’t get pregnant with a variety of assisted-reproduction techniques, such as IVF.
Surrogates have also made parenthood an option for people who might not be able to adopt a child, perhaps because of their age or marital status.
If gay men decide to use a traditional surrogate, one of them uses his sperm to fertilize the surrogate’s egg through artificial insemination. The surrogate then carries the baby and gives birth.
A gay couple might also choose an egg donor, fertilize that donated egg, and then have the embryo implanted in a gestational surrogate to carry until birth.
FINDING SURROGATE
There are several ways you can find a surrogate mother:
Friends or family. Sometimes you can ask a friend or relative to be a surrogate for you. It’s somewhat controversial. But because of the high cost of surrogacy and the complex legal issues it raises about parental rights, a tried-and-tested family relationship can be simpler to manage.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine accepts certain family ties as acceptable for surrogates. It generally discourages surrogacy, though, if the child would carry the same genes as a child born of incest between close relatives.
A surrogacy agency. Most people use one to arrange a gestational surrogate. There are about 100 agencies now operating in the U.S. They act as go-betweens.
An agency helps you find a surrogate and make arrangements. It also collects any fees that get passed between you and the surrogate, such as paying for her medical expenses.
HOW TO CHOOSE A SURROGATE
Right now there aren’t any regulations about who can be a surrogate mother. But experts agree on a few points about how to select one.
You should choose a surrogate who:
- Is at least 21 years old
- Has already given birth to at least one healthy baby so she understands firsthand the medical risks of pregnancy and childbirth and the emotional issues of bonding with a newborn
- Has passed a psychological screening by a mental health professional to uncover any issues with giving up the baby after birth
- Signs a contract about her role and responsibilities in the pregnancy, such as prenatal care and agreeing to give you the baby after birth
USING A SURROGATE
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says a surrogate should get a medical exam to check that she’s likely to have a healthy, full-term pregnancy. The organization suggests she gets tests that check for infectious diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis B and C.
Surrogates should get tests to make sure they have immunity to measles, rubella (German measles), and chickenpox. Also, you may want to ask that she get a medical procedure to visually “map” the uterus, which can help the doctor check her potential to carry a pregnancy. A surrogate mother should have her own doctor during pregnancy rather than use yours.
The cost of surrogacy can range from $80,000 to $120,000. A lot of different things go into the price, such as whether the surrogate has her own medical insurance or whether you need to buy a surrogacy-pregnancy policy for her.
LEGAL ISSUES WITH SURROGATES
Parental rights aren’t guaranteed after a surrogate pregnancy. The law continues to change as reproductive technology and the very definition of a “parent” changes.
There isn’t a federal law on surrogacy and state laws vary. After a surrogate pregnancy in some states, you may still have to pass adoption proceedings to gain legal custody of the child. In other states, a “declaration of parentage” before birth lets you avoid having to “adopt” the baby.
Metro: In Britain, for example, only altruistic surrogacy is legal – so no money is allowed to change hands.
Others will allow surrogate mothers to charge as much as they see fit for remuneration (commercial surrogacy), and some will only allow medical expenses to be paid. However, in locations where using a surrogate mother is completely permitted, people might travel to somewhere that it is allowed. This is known as fertility tourism.
WebMD :To protect your rights as parents-to-be — and the rights of the child you’re hoping to have — hire an attorney who specializes in reproductive law in your state. He can write a surrogacy contract that clearly spells out what everyone needs to do.
A contract like that may help if legal issues come up after birth. It can also outline agreements about a variety of possible scenarios with the pregnancy, such as what happens if there are twins or triplets.
Metro: It has raised some moral and philosophical concerns, as certain people feel that the surrogate may become too attached to the baby before it’s born and not wish to give it to the intended parents.
This dilemma actually came up in November last year, but the surrogate was ordered by the courts to give the baby to the couple she’d made the agreement with.
Other celebrities who have used surrogates include Tyra Banks, Jimmy Fallon, and Elton John.
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Metro: There’s a theory that ‘pregnant’ Kylie Jenner was Kim Kardashian’s surrogate
Kim Kardashian ‘Didn’t Respond Well’ To Kylie Jenner’s Shocking Pregnancy News! One People source close to the momma-of-two revealed of Kim’s reaction:
“Her first reaction was, ‘Seriously?’ She didn’t respond well at first. It’s like she and Kanye had gone on this whole journey to get pregnant for months, and now this happens to Kylie. She teared up. It definitely took a lot of time for her to process it.”
And the KKW Beauty founder was just as confused over the suddenness of her little sister’s pregnancy with rapper Travis Scott:
“It came out of nowhere. It was the last thing on their radar. Kylie is just 20 and hasn’t been with [boyfriend Travis Scott] for very long. So no one saw this coming.” Source: Perez Hilton
Kim Kardashian has welcomed her third child after her surrogate gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Monday morning,15 January 2018.
But Kim and husband Kanye West’s happy news has still managed to spark a conversation on Kylie Jenner.
What can we say? The girl is a hot topic. Despite reports breaking way back in September claiming that Kylie is pregnant with her first baby, the 20-year-old has yet to confirm or even comment on the rumours.
Image credit: YouTube
Instead, she has retreated from public view, appearing on Keeping Up With The Kardashians only via the phone, skipping the family Christmas card and refusing to take a full-length selfie.
But now, fans have knocked up a wild theory that could explain why Kylie was so keen to stay out of the spotlight.
Many people are now speculating whether Kylie was actually Kim’s surrogate – and has given birth to her own niece.
Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott on February 1, 2018 welcomed their first daughter Stormi. Kylie and Travis are trying to manage the Co-parenting thing seems they are very successful in doing so. Kylie even has started posting many photos of baby Stormi on the social media. Image credit: Toopanda
Why? Well, let’s look a little closer at all the theories.
Kim and Kanye have kept the idenity of their surrogate anonymous, understandably, to maintain the woman’s privacy. The woman, believed to be an African-American mother-of-two in her late twenties, had been pictured with her face obscured, but what if this expectant mother was a decoy? And what if the reason the surrogate wasn’t invited to Kim’s baby shower was because, in fact, it was Kylie, and she was already there?
Then comes the ‘Kylie is in labour’ rumours.
Over the weekend, fans went into a frenzy after alleged screenshots of someone claiming their ‘friend’s friend’s sister’ saw Kylie check into Cedars-Sinai Hospital did the rounds on social media. This was accompanied by a Snapchat from Kylie’s boyfriend Travis Scott on a private jet, reading: ‘Make it home to ya one way or another’.
Now, it turns out that the Snapchat was actually sent back in December, with sources claiming Kylie isn’t even due this month – but the timing of the rumours breaking coinciding with the birth of Baby Kardashian-West at 12.47am on Monday have everyone shook.
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Metro: Grandma who loves being pregnant becomes surrogate mum to twins
Sue Fisher holds twins Marnie and Dexter (Picture: Caters) Image credit: Metro
A grandmother enjoyed being pregnant so much that she decided to become a surrogate mum in her 50s.
Sue Fisher is thought to be the oldest woman in the UK to become a surrogate for strangers.
After a divorce from her husband of 30 years and with her children grown up, Sue, now 55, decided she wanted to help another couple experience the joy of childbirth.
Despite initially worrying that no one would pick her due to her age, she clicked with a gay couple desperate to have kids.
In 2013, the trio were stunned to find that Sue was pregnant with twins – and she gave birth to Marnie and Dexter, now four, in March 2014.
Sue has become good friends with the family and has been able to watch the twins grow up (Picture: Caters) Source: Metro
Sue got married at 16 and said she enjoyed the two ‘easy’ pregnancies she had as a teenager.
She said: ‘But then life kind of took over. I was busy raising my two daughters and didn’t have time to think about much else.
‘Then after 30 years of marriage to Gary we got divorced. It was a happy separation and we are still friends, and I consider the marriage a success.
‘After that, the idea of being pregnant again and being a surrogate came to the front of my mind. It was something I’d considered before but now, being divorced and not looking after my family any more, I thought it was the perfect time.’
She was 51 when she approached the charity Surrogacy UK, who helped to partner her with a clinic willing to take her on as a surrogate.
As she had already been through the menopause, she needed an egg donor – but her age did not deter couple Gary and Andy, and Sue agreed to have their child.
She said: ‘There were lots of tears when we knew we were going to go ahead. The boys were happy they had found someone and I was delighted I was going to be a surrogate.’
The children were born premature but are happy and healthy (Picture: Caters) Source: metro.co.uk
Their first attempt to have an embryo implanted failed – but two weeks after their final two eggs were implanted in a last ditch attempt, Sue felt a familiar feeling.
The heartburn she experienced was welcome, because it indicated the procedure was a success – she was then found to be carrying twins at the six week scan.
Sue went into labour early at 33 weeks and five days and the twins were born on March 19 2014, Marnie weighing 3lb 12oz and Dexter 4lbs 4oz.
The couple and Sue have remained good friends since the birth, and she is able to see the twins regularly.
She added: ‘The whole experience has been fantastic. I’m so happy I did it.
What are your thoughts?