Genetic and Gestational Surrogacy: an Overview

Surrogacy is a method in which a woman bears a child for another woman. The indications for treatment include absent uterus, recurrent miscarriage, and repeated failure of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and certain medical conditions. It also defines the process in which a woman gestates a fetus, gives birth to a child, and then relinquishes her parental rights to another couple. This third party relationship to the intimate process of producing children is not a contemporary concept and has been recorded in our history in several forms. In colonial America, children were sent to other childless families to learn trades or provide extra help to the family. More recent forms of surrogacy in the U.S. are adoption, fostering, and step-parenting. In this review, various techniques, law issues, and drawbacks of surrogacy are synchronically described and postulated.