8 misconceptions about surrogacy
Surrogate motherhood means bearing and giving birth to a child conceived by in vitro fertilization. At the same time, the genetic material, which becomes the basis of a new life, does not belong to the woman herself, but to people outside her who, for whatever reason, cannot have offspring themselves.
The opportunity to use the services of a surrogate mother for many single people or infertile couples is the only way to have genetically related children. The method is in great demand, despite the need for significant financial investments.
Most Russians consider substitutionary motherhood to be something exotic and not entirely ethical. This is facilitated by the wide spread of various misconceptions.
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"Surrogate" children are different from "ordinary"
A child born as a result of surrogate gestation is neither physically nor mentally different from his peers, conceived naturally or born by a biological mother who became pregnant using the IVF procedure. On the contrary, this baby has a higher chance of being born healthy - without genetic abnormalities and intrauterine malformations. The fact is that the procedure of artificial insemination of a surrogate mother is preceded by a thorough medical examination. With the same attention, doctors study the health of future biological parents. Fertilized eggs prepared for the IVF procedure are selected to rule out possible anomalies. Carrying out a "surrogate" baby, his birth and the first months of life also take place under the strict supervision of specialists.
A baby born to a surrogate mother looks like her
It can't be. Such a child receives the genetic material that determines the features of his appearance from his biological parents. Fertilization and the first division of the embryo take place in a test tube. At the moment of placement in the body of a surrogate mother, he has a complete set of genes, which can no longer be supplemented. In the future, the baby will have to become like his mother and father. A woman who carried and gave birth to a child does not transmit any hereditary qualities to him.
A "surrogate" child is threatened with infertility in the future
Children born to surrogate mothers have no specific malformations of the reproductive system. Moreover, substitute motherhood has officially existed for more than 40 years, and the first "surrogate" children have long become adults, have started their own families. Among them, not a single case of infertility has been registered so far, directly caused by the circumstances of conception, gestation or birth.
The biological mother of the child must be young
This is not true. The only condition for using the method of substitutionary motherhood in this case is the ability of the biological mother's body to produce live eggs, which is possible not only during the period considered optimal for bearing a child, but also after a woman reaches 40 years of age, when pregnancy and childbirth are associated with certain risks.
Among biological parents resorting to the help of surrogate mothers, there are many people who for a long time tried to have children, who were treated for infertility, who resorted to artificial insemination. In most cases, the biological mother is no longer very young. Often, women who have missed the optimal age for carrying because of their passion for a career resort to substitutional motherhood.
The mature (over 40 years) age of the biological mother with any method of conception has an increased risk of having a baby with developmental disabilities. Careful checking of fertilized eggs before their implantation into the body of a surrogate mother can significantly reduce this risk. In addition, today a woman has the opportunity to take advantage of the achievements of scientific and technological progress and to keep the eggs taken at the optimal reproductive age frozen for subsequent fertilization. At the same time, the likelihood of having a healthy child increases.
The surrogate mother's egg is used for conception
In most cases, couples who are able to produce normal germ cells resort to substitutional motherhood. However, there are exceptions: sometimes, due to the unsatisfactory state of the reproductive system of future biological mothers, eggs are taken from their blood relatives (for example, sisters).
In some cases, single men wish to take advantage of surrogacy. In such a situation, the future father has the opportunity to use an egg taken from an anonymous donor. In Russia, since 2012, there has been a legislative restriction prohibiting a surrogate mother from simultaneously becoming a donor of genetic material.
Wealthy women use surrogacy to avoid childbirth
It is impossible to exclude such cases, but if they do happen, then they are rare. The fact is that the procedure for collecting eggs is very difficult. An ovarian puncture is performed under general anesthesia. For several weeks before this, the woman is forced to take hormonal drugs that activate the maturation of the follicles. All these procedures are unpleasant and are associated with certain risks.
As a rule, women who are unable to conceive or bear a child due to their age or because of serious pathologies incompatible with pregnancy resort to surrogacy. Such a decision is usually dictated by difficult life circumstances, and not by the desire to make life easier for yourself, avoiding the hardships of pregnancy and childbirth.
Surrogate mothers often keep their babies for themselves
The risk of such a development of events is not excluded. During gestation and childbirth, a woman may become attached to an unborn baby and not be able to overcome the emotional stress associated with the need to transfer it to biological parents. The future surrogate mother necessarily takes a course with a psychologist, but this does not always help.
There is also a directly opposite probability: the mother and father may abandon the newborn for psychological or some other reasons. Although each case of substitutionary motherhood is accompanied by the drafting of an agreement regulating the obligations of the parties, there is no mechanism for the forced transfer of a “surrogate” child in our country.
Fortunately, such scenarios are extremely rare. As a rule, children born by surrogate mothers successfully find their own families.
Surrogacy is illegal
In Russia, surrogacy, including commercial, has been officially allowed since 2011. It is regulated by the Federal Law "On the Basics of Health Protection of Citizens in the Russian Federation", a number of articles of the Family Code, as well as orders of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
Despite the fact that legislative acts have a number of significant gaps, practice has established that not only officially registered married couples, but also citizens living in a civil marriage, as well as single women and men have the right to use substitutionary motherhood. Sometimes individuals who are not in a spousal relationship have to prove their right to maternity or paternity in court. However, these cases are becoming more and more, and it is hoped that such problems will disappear over time.
The authorities of other states treat the practice of surrogacy in different ways. It actually exists, but is not regulated by law in Finland, Belgium, Spain and Greece. In countries such as Great Britain, Denmark, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, surrogacy is permitted with significant restrictions (as a rule, it is prohibited to provide these services on a commercial basis). In Belarus, only those women who are unable to bear a child due to serious health problems can use the help of surrogate mothers. In France, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Germany, substitutionary motherhood is completely prohibited.
The development of substitute motherhood is hampered not only by misconceptions about its safety for the unborn child. Many consider this way of having offspring as contrary to ethical standards. It is believed that using a woman's body to carry a genetically alien fetus violates her rights and is in fact exploitative. Some people equate commercial surrogacy with child trafficking. The leaders of the main religious confessions support a negative attitude: they believe that the practice of substitutionary motherhood undermines the foundations of family relations.
Nevertheless, one cannot but admit that the services of surrogate mothers allow those people who would otherwise be deprived of such an opportunity to become happy parents. Most likely, this practice will develop especially successfully if legislators attend to studying the existing problems and creating an adequate legal basis for their solution.
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Maria Kulkes Medical journalist About the author
Education: First Moscow State Medical University named after I. M. Sechenov, specialty "General Medicine".
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