Surrogacy India Guide

With adoption becoming legally more difficult, and greater awareness of surrogacy as an option, many couples (and even individuals) that cannot otherwise bear children are increasingly turning to surrogacy as a possibility to fulfill their parenthood dreams. 

In general, couples first investigate surrogacy in their home country.  Some couples find that either the cost, or their country's legal environment, makes it very difficult to pursue surrogacy and then start investigating options for surrogacy abroad.  The most common overseas option is surrogacy in India, although there are other options.

Although India's first surrogate baby was delivered on June 23rd, 1994, the practice started receiving widespread international attention in 2004 when an Indian woman delivered a surrogate child for her daugther in the U.K.  Surrogacy in India gained more attention in 2007, when Oprah featured a U.S. couple pursuing surrogacy in India during her daytime television program. 

While 2007 figures from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reported 276 successful gestational surrogate pregnancies in the U.S. (with the patient's oocytes), India's clinics likely delivered 150 successful gestational pregnancies (with both patient's and donor oocytes).  This makes India the second most common location for gestational surrogacy.  However India, unlike the U.S. and Europe, has clinics that specialize in gestational surrogacy.

Each Indian clinic provides support for different types of surrogacy, with many support all types of surrogacy including:

• Traditional: Oocytes (eggs) from a donor are retreived using traditional IVF-ET techniques, are fertilized from the husband's sperm and placed in the recipients uterus.  In traditional surrogacy, the recipient is the mother that will raise the child. 
• Gestational: Oocytes (eggs) from the biological mother are retrieved using traditional IVF-ET techniques, are fertilized with the husband's sperm, and are placed in the carrier's uterus.  The carrier is also known as the gestational surrogate.        
• Gestational with egg donor:  This is very common for gay male couples, as they seek both a gestational surrogate and an egg donor.

For cycles with gestational carriers using patient's oocytes, SART figures for clinics in the U.S. show that fresh cycles in 2007 had the following results:

• 48% of cycles resulted in live births for women less than 35 years old
• 41% of cycles resulted in live births for women 35 to 37 years old
• 23% of cycles resulted in live births for women 38 to 40 years old
• 19%  of cycles resulted in live births for women greater than 40 years old

Of these cycles, 30% had twins, and almost 3% had triplets or more. 

In general, oocytes from younger women possess greater fertility potential, so if you are using a donor egg, the donor's age is one of the most significant factors for a successful birth.  

Clinics in India have not yet published such specific results, but many do claim success rates close to 50% (although it is difficult to verify these claims).  Surrogacy costs for a single successful round typically range from US$17,000 to US$25,000.

In India, surrogacy as a medical process has matured to the point where some clinics specialize in surrogacy (which generally means they have IVF-egg transfer facilities, help identify surrogates, and assist in the legal/contractual process), generally giving them more experience and a greater understanding of the process than U.S. and European clinics that focus primarily on the more traditional IVF. 

In researching whether surrogacy India is right for you, this guide provides an overview for selecting a clinic, the process of working with a clinic, the pregnancy, birth and baby pick-up, and then post-baby birth issues.