The surrogate woman

A surrogate mother must be fit and healthy and be able to carry a baby for the natural term of the pregnancy with as few risks as possible.

There are several factors which would prevent a woman becoming a surrogate which include:

• Obesity
• Smoking
• Heavy alcohol consumption
• Drug abuse
• Medical conditions such as heart disease or high blood pressure

Doctors prefer a potential surrogate to have undergone pregnancy before and to be satisfied with the number of children she already has.

This makes it easier for the surrogate mother to give her consent to this arrangement as she will have first hand knowledge of what pregnancy is and what it entails. There are only a few cases in which it is acceptable for a woman who has never had children to become a surrogate.

An important factor to take into account is age: there is an upper age limit of 35 for surrogacy as risks of birth defects increase once a woman reaches 35 and over. This is not to say that an older woman could not become a surrogate; just that the intended couple and older surrogate need to think very carefully before proceeding with an arrangement.

And pregnancy can be risky and these risks increases with age.

Any woman thinking of becoming a surrogate mother needs to consider this very carefully. It is both physically and emotionally draining and is something which requires a great deal of support from family and friends.

If you are looking to enter into a surrogacy arrangement then talk this through with your partner, family or friends and get as much practical support whilst you can.

The hardest part of this arrangement can be the handing over of the baby to the intended couple and you need to be comfortable with doing so. The bond between mother and newborn baby is very strong and even though you have entered into a legal arrangement, you can experience strong maternal feelings about the newborn which makes it very difficult to hand him/her over to another woman.

There are a whole range of issues to consider - practical, medical, legal and social which need to be addressed before any such arrangement is agreed upon.

Surrogacy Guide Index:

• Surrogacy - Intro
• The surrogate woman

• Is there more than one type of surrogacy?
• Legal issues