All you need to know about surrogate pregnancy

Recently, the news of a popular Nigerian actress having a child through surrogacy, has been trending.

Many of us would love to know what this is all about. In this article, we’ll be looking at everything you need to know about it surrogate pregnancy.

What is surrogacy?

Surrogacy is simply a practice of giving birth to a baby for another woman, often because she is unable to have babies herself.

Now, what this means is that, the baby is biologically related to its mother, because of the eggs extracted. The surrogate mother only carries the transferred embryo in her womb while it develops.

What does surrogacy involve?

1. Costs:

Of course we do know that a lot of medical procedures cost a lot of money. So someone who is willing to have a baby through a surrogate, must also be willing to sacrifice a lot of money. Apart from hospital costs, the surrogate mother will also receive some form of compensation, according to her terms.

2. Legal relations:

In order to avoid future unpleasant incidents, the parties involved in the intending surrogacy are educated adequately, on the pros and cons of going through the process. For instance, every legal right to the child is claimed by the biological parents, and not the surrogate mother, even if she was the one carrying the pregnancy.

3. Involvement:

During the surrogate pregnancy, the biological mother is actively involved, and might spend much time going on medical appointments, or even personal visits to the surrogate, just to see how well she is faring. Often times, this fosters a stronger relationship between the families of both the surrogate mother and the biological mother.

4. Risks:

Before the parties commence, they are always sufficiently informed of the risks involved. Although surrogacy has a high success rate in general, the surrogate mother is still likely to pass through all the perks of being pregnant, which is why extra care is always needed.