Maybe you’ve heard the term “surrogate” or “surrogacy”, but you don’t know what it means or what it entails.
To put it simply, surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman (i.e. surrogate) carries a child or children, for another couple or person throughout the duration of a pregnancy. The people who seek out surrogacy to build their families are couples (hetero or same-sex) or individuals who cannot carry out a pregnancy to term on their own, or become pregnant at all.
Traditional Surrogacy
In a traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is both the egg donor and the actual surrogate who carries out the pregnancy. This means that the surrogate will also be the biological mother to the child she is carrying for the couple. This type of surrogacy is typically only used if the biological mother’s eggs cannot be used due to infertility issues or for male same sex couples.
Using a procedure known as intrauterine insemination, a fertility doctor will use sperm from the biological father and transfer into the uterus of the egg donor/surrogate where the embryo will fertilize naturally or through in vitro fertilization (IVF). If IVF is used, the surrogate must also undergo an egg retrieval, and embryo transfer. Once retrieved, the eggs are combined with the father’s sperm and the embryos are transferred back to the surrogate.
Gestational Surrogacy
In a gestational surrogacy, the surrogate’s eggs will not be used, and she will not be the biological mother to the child. The surrogate is only providing the womb for the embryo to develop into a healthy pregnancy. While the intended parents may choose to use a donor’s eggs, the eggs will not be from the surrogate.
Using the biological father’s sperm (or sperm donor or donated embryos) and the biological mother’s eggs (or donor eggs), embryos will be created. Once fertilized, an embryo is transferred to the surrogate’s uterus using the process of in vitro fertilization.
Due to various legal aspects of traditional surrogacy, Family Source Consultants only facilitates gestational surrogacy arrangements.
For more information traditional or gestational surrogacies or to begin the application process, contact us today!
Staci Swiderski, CEO and owner of Family Source Consultants, has been a prominent leader in reproductive medicine for over two decades. Through her strategic vision and dedication, she has developed Family Source Consultants into a globally recognized agency specializing in comprehensive egg donation and gestational surrogacy services. Under Staci’s leadership, the agency has become a trusted partner for intended parents, surrogates, and egg donors worldwide, known for its rigorous standards, compassionate support, and commitment to excellence in third-party reproduction.
Her professional insight is uniquely informed by her own family-building experiences. As an intended parent, Staci welcomed her son via gestational surrogacy in 2005, and as a known egg donor, she assisted an infertile couple in expanding their family. These experiences lend a rare depth to her leadership and have fueled her ongoing dedication to ethical, empathetic, and professional support within the field of reproductive medicine.
