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Using both donor egg and sperm in my surrogacy procedure?

Can I use both donor egg and sperm for the surrogacy?

Couples and individuals who have been struggling to conceive a baby through infertility or other issues for a year find surrogacy as an ideal solution for their parenthood. However, most of the intended parents have a common concern about whether we can use both donor egg and sperm for a successful surrogacy procedure. The answer is yes!

While using sperm and egg donor in surrogacy improves the chances of conception and pregnancy rates, however, many intended parents find it difficult to lose biological connection with the baby. We understand your concern, depending on your fertility condition, you can use your eggs and choose for donated sperm or use donated eggs aligned with your fresh sperm sample. In the rarest case where none of the partners contains viable gamete materials, they can prefer using both egg donor and sperm.

However, before you commit to a surrogacy procedure, you must consider surrogacy factors like the legal process, medical proceedings, finding both sperm and egg donor, emotional challenges, financial element, and more. Ensure that you do your research carefully to avoid unwanted complications and connect with a surrogacy professional or surrogacy agency to get complete guidance about the journey.

Let us walk you through the detailed steps of the surrogacy journey for your better understanding.
What is Gestational Surrogacy?
Surrogacy procedure with egg donation
Why do intended parents prefer donor eggs?
Surrogacy procedure with sperm donation
Why do intended parents prefer donated sperm?
Surrogacy success rates using donor egg and sperm
Can I use sperm and egg donor in surrogacy?
Donated egg vs self eggs
Donated sperm vs own sperm sample
Additional factors to consider in surrogacy with donor egg and sperm
Using both donors in international surrogacy
Conclusion

What is Gestational Surrogacy?

Let us first understand, what exactly is Gestational Surrogacy. Gestational Surrogacy uses a third-party reproduction i.e., a surrogate mother or commonly known as a gestational carrier gives consent to carry a child for the intended parents to term.

In this type of surrogacy, the surrogate does not have any biological connection with the baby and neither she has any legal parental rights over the baby she gives birth to. Whereas, Gestational Surrogacy allows intended parents to share a genetic link with the baby either by using self-gamete materials or using a donor.

Gestational surrogacy uses the medical procedure of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), only the differentiating step includes transferring embryos into the surrogate’s womb Further, the surrogacy procedure of egg and sperm donation will be discussed further in detail.

In addition, this surrogacy arrangement protects the intended parent’s legal parental rights by enforcing surrogacy contracts that mention each essential factor of a surrogacy journey followed by the signature of both parties. Whether you are a heterosexual couple, married or unmarried couple, gay couple, or a hopeful single you can successfully conceive a healthy infant.

Surrogacy procedure with egg donation

If your female partner is infertile and has poor-quality eggs then it's time to consider finding donors for your surrogacy journey. Egg donation involves finding a perfect egg donor who is fit, fertile, and has a perfect health status.

Furthermore, the procedure begins with prescribing an egg donor a few fertility medicines to begin the process of stimulation (producing multiple eggs). The medicines are advised to begin by aligning the menstrual cycle of the surrogate mother and egg donor.

After a few days, an IVF expert examines the uterus of an egg donor and when the eggs are ready to fertilize, the multiple eggs are retrieved using a thin needle and stored in an incubator for further IVF medical procedure.

Why do intended parents prefer donor eggs?

The reason for using egg donor can vary from the intended parents and their fertility condition. A few common reasons include:

Poor-quality of eggs

There are a few women who may produce eggs that aren’t viable for a successful pregnancy. The declined quality of eggs may occur due to crossing fertility age i.e., 35, genetic issues, or certain medical conditions.

Failure of ovaries

A woman going through menopause, and suffering from a reproductive-based disease can find it difficult or impossible to produce qualitative eggs.

Other ovarian issues

A few women are born without ovaries or may have removed ovaries through surgery due to a few complicated medical conditions. Due to this reason, producing eggs becomes impossible, and finding an egg donor is crucial to help a surrogate get pregnant successfully.

Single intended father

There are a lot of single men who wish to expand their family without having a partner, in that case, the intended father will need an egg donor to help fertilize his sperm to achieve successful implantation via surrogacy.

Gay couples

Same-sex couples often find it difficult to expand their family with barely a few conceiving options. However, surrogacy can aid them in fulfilling their dreams of completing a family, for which they will need a young egg donor and surrogate mother.

Surrogacy procedure with sperm donation

The process of sperm donation involves selecting a healthy sperm donor, who is free from infectious disease. A sperm donor provides his sperm sample to fertilize it with the eggs of the intended mother or an egg donor.

After fertilization, both gamete materials are combined to create embryos. Afterward, the embryo cells are observed for about a week until they mature and develop completely. Moving forward, the embryo(s) are transferred into the surrogate’s womb.

A sperm donation is an effective solution to treat male factor infertility. And, it is often used in various fertility programs, however, when a qualitative sperm sample is combined with best- quality eggs, it increases the overall surrogacy success rates.

Why do intended parents prefer donated sperm?

The reason for choosing a sperm donor varies for different individuals, here are a few common reasons why intended parents choose sperm donation in a surrogacy journey.

Male infertility

When a couple or individual is struggling to conceive through male infertility issues like:

  • Low sperm count
  • Poor sperm quality
  • Sperm contraction
  • Sperm morphology
  • Sperm mobility
  • Sperm volume
  • And more
Due to these issues, intended parents choose to use donated sperm to experience surrogacy pregnancy with a high surrogacy success rate.

Single woman

Just like single intended father, there are a lot of woman who wishes to expand their family without having a male partner. With the advancement of technology and fertility treatments surrogacy has made conceiving possible for everyone. However, a single intended mother would need a sperm donor to fertilize her eggs to create embryos.

Surrogacy success rates using donor egg and sperm

The surrogacy journey offers higher success rates compared to other fertility treatments. Whether you use self egg or sperm and egg donor, when IVF experts have qualitative gamete materials there are high chances of successful embryo transfer.

In addition, in surrogacy, a fit, experienced, and healthy surrogate mother is selected which reduces the chances of miscarriage and improves the surrogacy success rates by about 75- 80%.

In addition, the chances of a surrogate getting pregnant with fresh and qualitative embryos is more than 50%. Whether you are struggling to conceive with male infertility or female infertility issues using donated eggs or sperm can fulfill your dreams of expanding families.

Can I use sperm and egg donor in surrogacy?

In the case, where both partners have been struggling with infertility issues, in that case using a sperm and egg donor is required. However, intended parents won’t be able to share a biological link with the baby.

While there are intended parents for whom sharing the biological link with their infant may not be of that importance. Surrogacy can be appealing to intended parents due to various reasons like:

  • The procedure is more successful, compared to other fertility treatments
  • It gives a sense of control to the intended parents
  • And involves the couples and or individuals in each step of the process.
  • And more reasons
Whatever your reason for selecting surrogacy, ensure that you are aware of all the risks, and challenges in terms of medical and legal factors when you consider using donated sperm and eggs in a surrogacy journey. While it is possible but you may face a few additional legal challenges as a few countries demand DNA tests to grant a parentage order or child’s custody to the intended parents.

Don't worry, our Global star surrogacy legal team is here to help and guide you thoroughly to ensure you experience a safe journey whether it is domestic or international surrogacy.

Donated egg vs self eggs – Which one to use?

You may have come across these two terms self-eggs and donated eggs while you research the surrogacy journey. Donated eggs are the eggs that are retrieved from a qualified egg donor, whereas self-eggs include retrieving eggs from the intended mother who is fit, fertile, and under reproductive or fertility age.

In either case, the egg retrieval procedure is similar. The IVF expert would examine the overall health status in both situations to determine the reliability of the gamete materials for the formation of embryos.

Donated sperm vs own sperm sample – Which one to use?

While fertility issues may differ from each couple or individual, if you have been struggling to conceive a healthy baby due to male factor infertility then you would be advised to find a qualified sperm donor to ensure a successful surrogacy procedure.

Whereas, if you have viable sperm and struggling to conceive due to poor egg quality or due to other medical conditions then you can use your sperm sample whether you are a married couple, gay couple, or hopeful single father, when your sperm sample is fertilized with qualitative eggs then you are bound to experience successful implantation.

In addition, both alternatives include the same procedure of collecting semen or sperm samples and it is further stored in an incubator.

Additional factors to consider in surrogacy with sperm and egg donor

While we have understood the perks of using donated sperm and eggs but the main question that arises in every intended parent’s mind is finding donors. Whether you are looking for a sperm donor or an egg donor there are a few surrogacy requirements that prospective candidates must meet and undergo a certain assessment procedure.

Let us walk you through the procedure of finding donors that professionals at Global Star Surrogacy follow.

Surrogacy criteria for an egg donor

  • A prospective candidate must be between the age of 18-35
  • She must be free from infectious diseases like AIDS, HIV, and more
  • She must have good health status
  • She must be fertile
  • She must not consume alcohol, smoke, drugs, or related substance

Surrogacy criteria for a sperm donor

  • The sperm donor must be under reproductive age i.e. f 21-45
  • He must be free from infectious diseases like AIDS, HIV, and more
  • He should not consume alcohol, smoke, or drugs
  • He must be fit and fertile
Depending on these criteria, our fertility team shortlists the candidates and conducts a thorough evaluation to help intended parents select the best-suited candidate.

Physical screening for an egg donor

  • To begin with, a prospective candidate will have to undergo blood and drug test.
  • Furthermore, an ultrasound is conducted to check her reproductive organs
  • Then, an IVF expert would check the medical history of the candidate and her family to ensure there are no chances of any disease being transmitted to the child.
  • Additional screening tests to check the availability of inherited or infectious disease

Physical screening for a sperm donor

  • The semen sample is collected from every candidate and it is been analyzed by experts deeply to check the quality, and quantity i.e. sperm count and the movement of the semen.
  • Furthermore, a medical professional will take his blood and urine samples to check his health.
  • Additional tests are conducted for infectious diseases like HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis, and more.
  • An IVF expert would check the candidate and his family’s medical history to avoid transmitting inherited diseases to the newborn child.

Psychological evaluation

Donating sperm and or eggs can be an overwhelming procedure for any candidate. Once the candidate clears the physical screening test then he or she would be sent for the psychological screening test.

Firstly, a counselor will walk the candidate through the risk factors, challenges, and consequences that he or she may face. Furthermore, the mental health professional would ask a few questions to determine the emotional readiness of the candidate for the procedure, based on the evaluation the candidates are shortlisted.

Using both donors in international surrogacy

Intended parents, who consider pursuing international surrogacy have a major concern about whether we can use both donated eggs and sperm if both of us are infertile. The answer depends on the laws and regulations of your destination country for surrogacy.

While there are a few countries that wouldn’t offer you custody of your child without having a genetic link with the baby, other countries permit intended parents to undergo surrogacy procedures irrespective of the biological connection with the baby.

If you are considering going through surrogacy in the USA, Argentina, or Colombia then the state would ask you to submit a DNA test stating that you have a genetic link with the baby to obtain parentage order and citizenship of that country for the child. While using both the donated gamete materials is possible even in international surrogacy, however understanding surrogacy laws and regulations is very important.

Conclusion

Whether you are struggling with male infertility, female infertility, or both, or if other medical conditions are blocking your way toward parenthood then surrogacy using both donor eggs and and sperm can help you expand your family successfully.

While shifting from fertility treatment to surrogacy can be an overwhelming situation and difficult decision to take but it can help you become parents and create life after years of struggles and failed attempts. In addition, surrogacy isn’t restricted to straight couples alone, every individual can conceive via surrogacy using donated eggs and or sperm.

From finding donors to helping you clear legal procedures, Global Star Surrogacy agency is here to guide and support you throughout the procedure. To know more about surrogacy, visit our website.
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