Is there more than one type of surrogacy?

Yes. There are two types of surrogacy which are:

• Host or Gestational (full) surrogacy
• Straight or Traditional surrogacy

Host surrogacy is where the egg from the intended mother is combined with her partner’s sperm. This undergoes fertilisation under laboratory conditions and the embryo is implanted in the surrogate mother’s uterus.

This is performed as IVF treatment. It is seen as the preferred way of having a surrogate birth but it is both costly and time consuming with no guarantee of success.

It is important to note that any baby born this way has no biological connection to the surrogate mother.

Straight surrogacy is where the egg from the surrogate mother is combined with sperm from the intended father. This is usually carried out as artificial insemination in an IVF clinic.

The procedure is less complex than for host surrogacy but emotionally it can be more problematic. The reason for this is that there is a biological connection between the baby, surrogate mother and intended father.

So, it can be very difficult for the partner of the intended father to accept a baby which he has fathered with another woman: or for the surrogate mother to hand over the baby to another woman, knowing that she has a biological link to it.

Surrogacy Guide Index:

• Surrogacy - Intro
• The surrogate woman

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