When you decide to pursue surrogacy to expand your family, you may be flooded with questions. It’s common and a good sign! Surrogacy is not a decision to be entered into lightly, and it’s incredibly important to educate yourself – both as the intended parent(s) and prospective surrogates.
Of all the questions we get at the Surrogacy Center of Philadelphia, there is one in particular that we find pretty interesting. It’s quite common for an interested party to ask, “Will the baby look like the surrogate mother?”
We love this question, and the answer is simple. It depends on the type of surrogacy journey you are pursuing. Keep reading to find out more!
TWO TYPES OF SURROGACY
There are two types of surrogacy –traditional and gestational.
- Traditional Surrogacy requires that the egg cells come directly from the selected surrogate. The fertility clinician will harvest her egg cells for in vitro fertilization (IVF) before placing a fertilized egg back in the surrogate’s womb. The sperm cell can come from the intended father or a donor.
- Gestational Surrogacy relies on the intended mother or an egg donor to provide the ovum. Eggs are retrieved from the Intended Mother or egg donor and then fertilized in vitro using the sperm of the intended father or donor sperm. The resulting embryo is then placed into the surrogate’s womb.
DOES A SURROGATE MOTHER SHARE DNA WITH THE BABY?
Maybe. If the intended parent(s) used traditional surrogacy, the answer would be yes. The baby’s DNA would come from the surrogate (since she was the source of the egg)If the intended parent(s) pursue gestational surrogacy, the answer would be no. In this case, the intended mother or egg donor’s DNA would match the baby.
The Surrogacy Center of Philadelphia is a gestational surrogacy agency, so babies born through our program have no genetic tie to the gestational carrier. Surrogates are only asked to carry the child on behalf of Intended Parent(s). Very often, surrogates in our program say they are giving back a baby to their parents.
SO, WILL THE BABY LOOK LIKE THE SURROGATE?
Only in traditional surrogacy when the surrogate’s egg is used.
Because gestational surrogacy involves the intended parent’s egg and sperm, the child does not share DNA with the surrogate. Any similarities in physical appearance are by chance, not due to genetics.
IS SURROGACY RIGHT FOR YOU?
Are you interested in learning more about the surrogacy journey as an intended parent or prospective surrogate? You can learn more at the links provided or by contacting our clinic.
We’d love to meet you!
