Articles - Surrogacy

In one of the first cases of its kind in Britain, a woman is set to make history by acting as a surrogate for her brother and his gay partner. Fertility expert Dr Kamal Ahuja says, "The definition of a traditional family is progressively fading. Though we had concerns some years ago, the evidence now is that we need not worry in terms of same-sex parenting.

Families of the future may combine up to five parents. Regardless of culture, the evidence is that children adapt well and it’s the quality of the nurturing environment which is important."

QUESTION: My partner and I live in Toronto, and we need to work with an agency in the U.S. to help build our family. We are considering at least two children. Maybe twins? We both currently work full time, and can't make too many trips to the U.S. We realize that we'll want to spend time with the American surrogate, and there will be many initial meetings as we choose the egg donor and surrogate. What's the average number of times a prospective parent typically travels to the U.S. during this entire process? Does the surrogate ever travel to see the parents?

QUESTION: "My partner and I recently froze our 'donation', and we're starting to consider embryo creation, storage, and final outcome for each. Is it true we can donate our unused embryos to stem cell research? We may have several unused embryos, right? What are our options to consider?"

QUESTION: "My partner and I have researched traditional and gestational surrogacy, and we've decided to go with gestational surrogacy because of the emotional attachment sometimes experienced by traditional surrogates. Having made that decision, we're excited about choosing an egg donor. What are some things we should know before beginning this step? What is the role of the medical team in finding and screening the egg donor? And how long does it take?"