Get your bundle of joy through surrogacy

Celebrated actress Gabrielle Union finally held her bundle of joy after suffering multiple miscarriages.

The actress and her husband Dwayne Wade welcomed their daughter on November 7 2018 via surrogate.

The couple revealed that they opted for this method after trying to conceive a baby for three years without success.

This is just one in many cases on the importance and positive impact surrogate mothers play.

There are many reasons why a couple may opt for this method to expand their family. Straight from serious reasons like infertility issues in both men and women, risky conditions in pregnancy for example severe heart disease, women who have undergone hysterectomy (an operation to remove the uterus) to more “artificial” and cosmetic resons such as women not wanting to ruin their figures.

Whatever the reason for choosing this method of child delivery, it is important to be well equipped with information to make a better choice.

There are two types of surrogate mothers.

A traditional surrogate is a woman who bears a child on behalf of another woman from her own egg fertilized by the other woman’s partner.

A gestational surrogate on the other hand is where the egg and sperm of a couple are gathered, fertilized and inseminated to the surrogate through a process called in vitro fertilization (IVF). The differentiating factor in gestational surrogate is the fact that the surrogate has no genetic ties to the child.

The following are important factors to bear in mind when choosing a surrogate mother.

Age. The ideal age for a surrgate mother is between 21 to 37 years.
Medical. The surrogate should agree to undergo medical tests to ascertain her psychological and physical health.
Legal. The parties involved should sign a contract clearly stipulating roles of each party, remuneration and other legal terms. This helps in settling any misunderstandings that may arise in future.

A big salute to all the brave surrogate mothers who grant the priceless gift of children to couples.