How Surrogacy is Being Normalized
If you are considering working with a surrogate to achieve your dream of having a child, you are definitely not alone. Surrogacy as we know it today has been around since the early 1980s, but its history goes back thousands of years.
Over the last 30 years, gestational surrogacy has gained in popularity as in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques have improved and various celebrities like Elton John, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kim Kardashian have helped normalize the process.
Although it is not the most common form of assisted reproduction, it is a necessary alternative for those intended parents who cannot carry a child on their own, whether for medical or other reasons.
Today, there are an estimated 750 babies born through gestational surrogacy each year. Gestational surrogacy means surrogates are not biologically related to the baby they are carrying, instead the egg comes from either the intended parents or an egg donor, and the sperm comes from either the intended parents or a sperm donor. The embryo is created through IVF and can then be transferred into the surrogate through a procedure called an embryo transfer.
With gestational surrogacy, since one or both of the intended parents are usually biologically related to the embryo, it is less complex legally and emotionally for the surrogate, which means when properly screened, both medically and psychologically, there are practically no instances of surrogates wishing to keep the babies they birth.
For more than 20 years, Growing Generations has been helping same-sex couples, heterosexual couples, and single people create their families using surrogates. Not only have we been extremely successful with thousands of babies born over the years, but we also absolutely love what we do and would like to help you become a parent.
Thinking About Next Steps?
For more information and actual testimonials from intended parents who have turned to surrogacy as well as the surrogates themselves, take a look at our surrogacy resources center or read through our helpful surrogacy FAQs. You can also contact one of our Growing Generations experts if you have any questions.
Kim Bergman, PhD, a licensed psychologist of 26 years, has specialized in the area of gay and lesbian parenting, parenting by choice and third party assisted reproduction for over two decades. Dr. Bergman has created a comprehensive psychological screening, support and monitoring process for Intended Parents, Surrogates and Donors. She is the co-owner of Fertility Counseling Services and Growing Generations and is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American Psychological Association, the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. She is on the national Emeritus board of the Family Equality Council. Dr. Bergman writes, teaches and speaks extensively on parenting by choice. Along with co-authors, she published “Gay Men Who Become Fathers via Surrogacy: The Transition to Parenthood” (Journal of GLBT Family Studies, April 2010). Dr. Bergman’s is the author of the upcoming book, Your Future Family: The Essential Guide to Assisted Reproduction (Conari Press 2019). Dr. Bergman created her own family using third party assisted reproduction and she lives with her wife of 35 years. Her two daughters are in college.
