What is surrogacy?

Surrogacy is defined as an arrangement in which a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another individual or couple who are unable to conceive on their own. This often involves a legal agreement where the surrogate mother agrees to relinquish the child after birth to the intended parents. This option accurately captures the essence of surrogacy, emphasizing the role of the surrogate as a gestational carrier for those seeking to have a child but facing difficulties in doing so due to various reasons, including medical conditions or circumstances that prevent them from becoming pregnant themselves.

In contrast to adoption, which involves legally taking a child into one’s family after birth, surrogacy focuses on the gestation process. It is also distinct from medical treatments for infertility, which address the biological challenges of conception rather than employing a surrogate. Additionally, fostering refers to the temporary care provided to children who cannot live with their biological parents, which diverges from the intentionality of surrogacy where the primary focus is on creating a new family unit through gestation.