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Last Updated: Oct 23, 2019
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Traditional Surrogacy vs. Gestational Surrogacy
- Medical Process: IVF (used in gestational surrogacy) and IUI (used in traditional surrogacy) are very different medical procedures. Generally, IUI is a simpler process that requires the surrogate to undergo fewer fertility treatments. In addition, intended mothers will not need to take fertility medications or undergo the egg retrieval process, as their eggs will not be used to create the embryo.
- Legal Process: Traditional surrogacy laws tend to be more complicated than gestational surrogacy laws. Because the surrogate is the biological mother of the baby in traditional surrogacy, she has parental rights that will need to be legally terminated after the baby is born. In some states, this means that the non-biological parent of the child will need to complete a stepparent adoption to obtain parental rights. These additional legal procedures are not required in the gestational surrogacy process, as parentage is established before birth using a pre-birth order.
- Wait Time: Most surrogacy professionals, including Southern Surrogacy, only handle gestational surrogacy cases. In addition, many surrogates prefer gestational surrogacy because it is less legally and emotionally complicated for them. This can make it difficult to find a willing traditional surrogate and agency to complete the process, increasing intended parents’ wait times in traditional surrogacy.
- Costs: On average, the cost of gestational surrogacy tends to be higher than for traditional surrogacy. This is primarily due to differences in the medical process; IUI is less expensive than IVF and tends to involve fewer medical procedures and fertility treatments.
- Risks: Traditional surrogacy poses a greater emotional and legal risk than gestational surrogacy. Because the surrogate is the biological mother of the child in a traditional surrogacy, she may be more likely to emotionally bond with the baby, making it more difficult to hand him or her over to the intended parents. And because she has parental rights to the baby, she could theoretically challenge the surrogacy arrangement in court, which could result in a lengthy and expensive legal battle for everyone involved.