What is Surrogacy ?

While the United States is, overall, one of the most surrogacy-friendly countries in the world, there is no federal law to provide uniform regulation.

While we tend to hear more about celebrities working with surrogates to grow their families, most intended parents are just the people next door.

They may be relying on insurance; currently, 15 states mandate some level of fertility coverage. Still, others use financing or loans to cover the cost of surrogacy.

Working independently of an agency or legal counsel can cause a myriad of legal problems, both before and after the baby’s birth.

Depending on your state and the specificity of your legal agreement, the document may not provide the proper protection for the intended parents or the surrogate and could even result in delayed parentage. An agency can ensure that all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed so that everyone is on the same page and can focus on a healthy baby.

While there are other general requirements a surrogate should meet, including age between 21-40 and non-smoking, the ideal surrogate will have already given birth to and be raising at least one child. From a medical perspective, it provides information about her health and her body’s response to pregnancy.

In fact, compensation is usually at the bottom of the priority list. Becoming a surrogate isn’t exactly easy – she must meet the stringent list of qualifications, both medical and emotional.

This goes back to the ideal surrogate already having a child of her own – she knows what it’s like to have a family and wants the same thing for you. Most surrogates feel so grateful to have had relatively easy pregnancies that they want to use this to help others.

Then there’s gestational surrogacy. Through IVF, the mother’s eggs are collected and fertilized by the father’s sperm. A fertilized embryo is then placed in the gestational surrogate’s uterus and she carries the baby to birth.

In this case, the surrogate is not the biological mother, as it was not her egg that was fertilized, says Werner. This method has become preferred as it gives both parents genetic ties to the baby and is less complicated legally.

One of the top requirements for women applying to be surrogates, gestational or traditional, is that they’ve had a baby before. In addition to this, the surrogate must be at least 21 years old, says Werner. This is similar to what we see in Atwood’s novel and the show, where the fictional society only uses women who’ve previously had children as surrogates.

As one might imagine, having one woman carry another’s baby can be a complicated process if the proper regulations aren’t in place. The legal process can by tricky and it varies from state to state, says Werner

Surrogacy is only legal in certain states. Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of surrogacy is that it isn’t actually legal in all states.

surrogacy agreements cannot be enforced under New York law, so someone in the state who would like to find a surrogate to carry an embryo to term will have to find a carrier in a surrogate-friendly state, like New Jersey or Connecticut.

“This is a fascinating part of surrogacy that most people don’t realize,” Levine said. There are a number of attorneys who specialize in surrogacy law, so people wanting to use a surrogate will have to consider that legality and the legal cost as well.

Surrogates go through a trial run before the real deal. According to Martin, before a surrogate is implanted with an embryo, they basically go through a trial run — or mock pregnancy.

The doctors give these carriers the medicines that they would need to take — two weeks of estrogen, as well as progesterone — during the process, to make sure that the lining of the uterus responds appropriately before the real transfer happens. “We try and thicken the lining of the uterus up like it would during a normal cycle,” Martin said.