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| Becoming a Gestational Surrogate Mother | If a woman wants to become a Surrogate Mother, she will have to undergo a number of tests before the egg transition, sperm transition or both. To these tests may be referred:
Hysteroscopy / HCG – it is the procedure, with the help of which the state of clearness and the size of the fallopian tubes as well as shape of the uterus are possible to be estimated;
Infectious disease test is conducted with the aim to make sure that a woman has n contagious diseases;
A mock cycle is the procedure, which makes it able to see how the lining of the uterus will react to hormone replacements (the hormone meant is called “estrogen”);
Pap smear is done with the aim to check whether the uterus of a potential Surrogate Mother is healthy;
Physical testing is conducted to be able to see whether there are any psychological impediments, which would hinder the Surrogate Mother in carrying the baby / babies;
Trial transfer is the procedure, with the help of which the length of the uterus is estimated with the aim to find out how far should the catheter, which will be loaded with embryos, be inserted;
Psychological testing is also necessary to be conducted in order to check motivations, commitment and attitudes.
As soon as all testing procedures are completed, the menstrual cycle of the Intended Mother / Egg Donor and of the future Surrogate Mother are synchronized with the help of some birth control pills; after which a subcutaneous injection of Lupron is made. Lupron is a steroid, which helps to shut down the production of hormones with the aim to keep menstrual cycles under strict control. As a rule this process ensures that the uterus of the Surrogate Mother is ready to receive the embryo, transferred. And because the menstrual cycle of the Surrogate Mother is at least a week ahead of the Intended Mother or Egg Donor, it usually makes her uterus more prepared to receive the fertilized eggs. As only the cycle begins, the Lupron dose is decreased and estrogen replacement is added.
Then the Intended Mother or the Egg Donor starts on fertility hormones on day three with the aim to make her ovaries stimulated to produce more eggs than they normally do. In order to do it a shot of HCG is given, which also includes a lutinizing hormone (LH) surge, which makes the eggs become mature faster than they are to do it. The drugs given in order to stimulate the ovaries produce more eggs than enough for a single implantation procedure. As soon as thirty six hours have passed, the eggs are taken out from the Intended Mother or from the Egg Donor and fertilized with the sperm of the Intended Father or the Sperm Donor. After the fertilization process takes place, the eggs are incubated for a period of 2 – 5 days. And when the fertilized embryos get developed to their necessary stage, they are loaded into some special syringe, which is equipped with a flexible catheter and through the cervix they are inserted into the uterus of the Surrogate Mother. As a rule three or two day old embryos may already be used, and the rest of them gets frozen. After the transplantation procedure has been completed, the Surrogate Mother is to spend about three days having a bed rest.
In case if a pregnancy is confirmed, an ultrasound investigation is conducted in about 6 weeks in order to check for a heartbeat. After 12 weeks of pregnancy the Surrogate Mother should be released to a regular obstetrician / gynecologist. Still, she is to undergo check – ups regularly in order to make sure that her hormonal level is stable. However, once the placenta takes over the hormone replacement may be discontinued.
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