Heterosexual couples often choose surrogacy if they together cannot carry a baby to term. Often surrogacy is a first choice for single men, male couples or women who have had medical complications.

Intended parents who have viable sperm or egg can maintain a genetic link with the child they create with the help of a surrogate. Also, intended parents often have a close involvement with the surrogate and the prenatal care and most intended parents are present for the child’s birth.

The media exploits stories of surrogates that have gone wrong. The reality is that those cases are a very small percentage of the surrogate cases each year in the United States. In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate does not have a genetic link to the child, and her claim to the child is minimized by the lack of biological connection.

Although North Carolina law does not have a statute or case law that offers guidance on what terms can be written into surrogacy contracts, surrogacy is alive and well in North Carolina. The contracts are important because the intended parents and the surrogate discuss and state clearly what they are agreeing on and what they each expect from the other. Contracts should be detailed and spell out the terms of compensation, health and life insurance, restricted activities and the contract may detail future contact, hospital involvement, etc.

The total costs for surrogates range from $50,000 to $120,000. The largest part of the compensation is paid to the surrogate for her services in carrying a child. Generally surrogates are compensated between $20,000 to $45,000, and there is financial consideration given if the surrogate carries multiples. Medical fees range from $13,000 to $21,000 and include testing and medications for the egg donor and the carrier, egg retrieval and IVF. There will be additional costs for egg donors but frozen embryos are less expensive. Additional costs include health and life insurance, legal fees and travel and costs for psychological evaluations.

A test used to conduct chromosomal problems done by testing the amniotic fluid around the baby. It is usually done 15-20 weeks into the pregnancy.

The injection of sperm into the female vagina without sexual intercourse.

A blood test used to determine if a woman is pregnant approximately 10 days after the embryo transfer.

The process of freezing tissues or cells and then storing them in liquid nitrogen at very low temperatures; used to store sperm, embryos, and unfertilized eggs in small vials or straws that can last for decades

Artificial insemination that is not using the sperm from the male partner or husband.

The process by which a fertile woman provides her eggs to an infertile woman for use in an ART procedure.

The procedure for extraction of eggs from a woman’s follicles for use in IVF.

Term used when the cause of an individual’s infertility cannot be determined.

The embedding of an embryo usually in the lining of a woman’s uterus.

A condition in which a pregnant woman’s cervix begins to dilate too soon, causing miscarriage.

Medically, the inability to conceive a child after one year of unprotected sexual intercourse (six months if over the age of 35) or the inability of a woman to carry a child to term.

A term that describes the time from which the egg is fertilized through the first few weeks of pregnancy.

The placement of an embryo into a woman’s uterus or Fallopian tube after IVF.

Occurs when sperm penetrates the egg.

Medically, an embryo becomes a fetus after about seven weeks of pregnancy when the major structures (head, torso, limbs) have formed.

Term for either the sperm or the egg.

The medical term for pregnancy.

A type of surrogacy in which a surrogate mother is implanted with the genetic offspring of another couple and then turns the baby over to them at birth.

The egg; the plural form of ovum is ova.

A court issued order acquired after the birth of the child; typically, the post-birth order places one or both of the intended parents on the birth certificate and removes the gestational carrier from it, terminating the parental rights of the gestational carrier; these are not allowed in every state and may not be appropriate or available for every surrogacy arrangement.

The microscopic cell that carries the male genetic information to the female’s egg; the male gamete.

The number of sperm in an ejaculate, given as the number of sperm cells per milliliter.

The male hormone responsible for supporting sex drive, it is necessary for sperm development.

The development and attachment of a fertilized egg in the Fallopian tubes.

Allows the creation of images of organs and systems in the body using high frequency sound waves and is a method of confirming pregnancy, providing a picture of the child in the female’s uterus.