A surrogate is a woman who offers to carry and give birth to another person’s baby. With gestational surrogacy, the egg comes from either the intended mother or an egg donor, and the sperm comes from either an intended father or a sperm donor. The embryo is created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and can then be transferred into a surrogate or frozen for future use. This procedure is commonly referred to as an embryo transfer. Your eggs are not used in the process.

Becoming a gestational carrier is a significant decision that involves carrying a pregnancy for another individual or couple who cannot conceive or carry a pregnancy themselves. It’s a selfless act that requires careful consideration, both emotionally and physically. Happy Future Surrogacy encourages all women considering this path to fully research the challenges and rewards of the surrogacy process before starting. That way, you’ll understand the journey ahead and make sure it’s the right one.

Our team is here to help. Happy Future Surrogacy will always respond to your inquiries regarding the potential risks associated with becoming a surrogate mother. We feel transparency is key in our effort to make carriers aware of the potential challenges ahead of time.

What are the Risks of Being a Surrogate Mother?

Every woman’s surrogacy experience will be different, but the majority of surrogacy journeys involve a few common risks and potential issues. If you are thinking about being a surrogate, you will need to accept these potential risks before you can start the surrogacy process.

Possible Health Risks of Surrogacy:

It’s no secret that pregnancy and childbirth come with inherent risks. If you are a gestational surrogate bearing a child for someone else, the risks are the same.

In addition to these usual side effects (nausea, weight gain, swelling, back pain, etc.), you may also experience side effects from fertility drugs used in the transfer process. Carrying multiples for the intended parents may further raise your health risks associated with surrogacy. 

Possible Emotional Risks of Surrogacy:

Potential surrogate mother risks and complications can also involve your emotions. Being pregnant affects your hormones, which can have a great impact on your emotional health. Add in the emotional challenges of surrogacy — carrying someone else’s baby, maintaining a relationship with intended parents and more — and it’s normal for any surrogate to feel overwhelmed at certain points in her journey.

Contrary to what many people believe, the biggest emotional risk of gestational surrogacy is not becoming “attached” to the child that you carry. In fact, this is not a significant problem for most surrogates — they see what they’re doing as “babysitting” and, many times, are excited to not have another child to care for after their nine months of pregnancy are up!

Instead, here are some of the more common emotional risks of being a surrogate mother:

• Stress from managing your everyday family responsibilities and your surrogate responsibilities
• Exhaustion and fatigue
• Increased responsibility for your spouse and immediate family members Potential for postpartum depression

We understand that taking these risks can be unsettling. Our goal is to make the surrogacy process as safe and successful as possible, which is why we are committed to helping you at every stage of the procedure.

At Happy Future Surrogacy, we are dedicated to providing you the safest surrogacy journey possible in California. Although the risk associated with being a gestational surrogate mother can initially seem overwhelming, rest assured that our team is here to accompany you every step of the way in minimizing these risks and ensuring you feel supported throughout your unique journey.

Are you curious about the advantages that our surrogacy program can offer? Get in touch with our team of experts right now.