Building Your Family Through Surrogacy as a Single Parent
Surrogacy may be a great option and solution for a single parent to be would like to become a parent but aren’t able to carry themselves - due to being a male for instance (which in that case of course they themselves wouldn’t be able to carry a pregnancy) but also for a female who is hopeful to become a parent but is unable to carry herself for a medical reason.
Single individuals are able to pursue surrogacy to become parents just as a couple would be able to. With the use of a gestational carrier, a single person can be still biologically related to their child via in vitro fertilization using their own genetic material. The process is very similar to that of intended parents who are in a relationship except for a single intended parent would need to find a donor for the other gamete (egg or sperm) to create embryos before securing a gestational carrier. For instance, if a single man would like to become a father and will be using his gametes, then he will need to find an egg donor in order to create embryos. Once he has selected an egg donor and is able to move forward with embryo creation and that is complete, at this point he would be able to reach out to a surrogacy agency to start the process of securing a gestational surrogate to carry the pregnancy. Or if you are a single woman and would like to become a mother using your own eggs, then you would have to go through an egg retrieval process. You also would have to choose a sperm donor to create embryos after the eggs have been retrieved.
Are there challenges when pursuing surrogacy as a single parent? Absolutely. One consideration would be the financial costs, as gestational surrogacy can be very financially heavy on a single person especially. There are legal complexities as well as emotional challenges. The legal complexities are typically similar to those of two-parent intended parents going through surrogacy, but some states have more friendly donor and surrogacy laws than others. This is why it is important to work with a reputable agency and surrogacy attorney who understand the laws of the state where your surrogate lives because that is where the baby will be born.
There are also intricacies to raising a donor-conceived child. With the challenges also come amazing benefits as well… the pros to choosing surrogacy to have a biological child as a single parent is that even if the single individual hasn’t found the “one” they don’t have to put their life on hold in order to have a biological child. Building your family through surrogacy as a single parent may be a better option for you than private adoption due to the birth mother being more inclined to choose a two-parent home when she is selecting an adoptive family for the child she will give birth to. The best pro to completing this process with a gestational carrier is the relationship you will build with your gestational surrogate. You get to be a part of every step in the pregnancy and participate in the birth (if you wish to) and even potentially stay in contact after the baby is born to keep that relationship ongoing (if that is your desire and hers).
Surrogacy is a glimmer of hope for single individuals who desire to become a parent with their own biological child but aren’t able to carry for themselves. In the past, they may have only had adoption as an option and that posed issues as well as it is difficult to adopt, especially as a single parent by choice. If you would like to learn more about building your family through surrogacy as a single parent, please free to click here to schedule a free intended parent consultation and our agency would love to help you navigate this process.