Egg donation in surrogacy is typically required when the intended mother cannot use her own eggs due to medical reasons, such as a heart condition making pregnancy risky, the absence of a uterus from a hysterectomy, or other fertility issues. This approach allows couples facing these challenges to pursue alternatives like surrogacy to build their family, even when traditional methods are not possible. While adoption is one alternative, surrogacy with an egg donor provides a path for hopeful parents to have a child when the intended mother's eggs are not viable or available.
This doesn’t mean that these couples can’t have children, but it does mean they must pursue other alternatives. Adoption is one, while surrogacy, which involves another woman agreeing to become pregnant and then letting that newborn join with new, hopeful parents, is another. In some cases, however, an egg donor may be the preferred alternative. But why?
Traditional Surrogacy
The “old-fashioned” method of surrogacy hasn’t changed much in concept, although some of the methodologies have evolved. This mod of surrogacy uses the egg of the surrogate mother and the sperm donated from the intended father of the hopeful family. In the past centuries, this would have required the surrogate mother and the hopeful father to have actual sexual intercourse with each other, something documented even in ancient texts such as the Bible.
Today, of course, the hopeful father donates sperm, and that is implanted via an artificial insemination technique. However, it’s still the egg of the surrogate mother and the sperm of the father from the hopeful family, as it has been for millennia with conventional surrogacy.
What Are the Alternatives for Egg Use in Surrogacy?
However, today, there are other options for which egg is to be used. In Vitro Fertilization, or IVF, is a technique where eggs from another person are collected and sent to a lab. Once the eggs have been inspected and confirmed to be viable, they are introduced to sperm from a donor to fertilize. There are options in these circumstances for genetic screening to occur. If there are is a history for either the egg or sperm donor’s family of congenital diseases such as cystic fibrosis, which is an inherited lung disease, or Tay-Sachs, which is a fatal neural degenerative disorder, procedures like pre-implantation genetic diagnosis can be carried out to ensure these disorders are not present in the fertilized egg.
At this point, one of the fertilized eggs, usually the one that passes all screening, is selected and then implanted into the surrogate mother. Normal pregnancy carries on from this point, and nine months later, the baby is born, with no differences from a naturally conceived child.
Why Go The Donor Route?
One of the most common reasons for hopeful families to choose an egg other than that of the surrogate mother herself is the wish to have a child that is, genetically, “traditional.” In other words, if the hopeful mother donates her egg, and the hopeful father donates his sperm, then despite the fact that the baby gestated in a surrogate mother’s womb, any genetic tests conducted would confirm the child has 50% of the DNA of the hopeful mother and 50% DNA from the hopeful father. In other words, a “true” child of the hopeful parents.
This is sometimes the circumstance some women find themselves in if they have a hysterectomy that involves the surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries. They may have taken the precaution of having their eggs removed and cryogenically stored, so it is still possible to have a child with a direct genetic connection to themselves, but they require a surrogate mother for the actual pregnancy.
There are other cases where a woman may not have her eggs available for use in IVF, but there is a close relative, such as a sister with DNA that is still very close. The sister may not be willing to act as a surrogate mother, but she is ready to donate her egg so that the baby born will still have a genetic connection to the mother’s side of the family.
There are also circumstances where the hopeful parents want to cultivate specific genetic traits that neither they nor the surrogate mother possesses. In these instances, both the egg and sperm for donors picked for their genetic characteristics are selected in the hopes of having an “ideal mix” when the baby is born.
Why Consider International Options for Egg Donation and Surrogacy?
Considering international options for egg donation and surrogacy can offer benefits such as access to experienced surrogacy agencies and world-class IVF labs, often at lower medical expenses compared to facilities in countries like the United States. For instance, countries like Georgia in Eastern Europe provide coordinated services for successful surrogate mother searches and implantation, making it a viable alternative for hopeful parents seeking donor egg surrogacy.
