MEDICAL PROCESS

With gestational surrogacy, intended parents can use the mother’s egg or a donor egg as well as the father’s sperm or donor sperm. With gestational surrogacy, the carrier has no biological tie to the embryo that is transferred to her during the in vitro fertilization cycle.

When using an already-created embryo, the medical process varies depending on the intended use when the embryos were created.  If the embryos were created to be used with a surrogate, testing of the egg and sperm provider should have been conducted at the time of creation.  Therefore, we would not require additional testing of the sperm and egg provider, and the process would jump to the testing of the gestational carrier.  However, if the embryo was originally created to be transferred to the egg provider for gestation, but it will now be used by a gestational carrier, testing of the sperm and egg provider is necessary.  In that situation, the medical process for existing embryos is as follows:

FDA Testing of Egg Provider and Sperm Provider: The FDA requires the female genetic parent and male genetic parent (they will be considered known or directed donors when using a gestational carrier) to undergo the following tests for the egg provider 30 days prior to retrieval and 7 days from sperm production for the sperm provider

1. HIV-1 antibody and NAT (or MPX)
2. HIV-2 antibody
3. HIV group O antibody
4. Hepatitis C antibody and NAT (or MPX)
5. Hepatitis B surface antigen
6. Hepatitis B core antibody (IgG and IgM)
7. Serologic test for syphilis (TP or RPR)
8. Both the egg provider and sperm provider must also have:
   1. Neisseria gonorrhea and Chlamydia trachomatis NAT on urine or a swab
9. Additional testing for the sperm provider must include:
   1. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2
   2. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (IgG and IgM)

ASRM recommends testing the genetic parents’ blood types and Rh factor along with gestational carrier’s blood type and Rh.  If there is the potential for Rh incompatibility, couples should be informed about the obstetric significance of this condition.

Testing of Gestational Carrier: At Gift of Life Surrogacy, we require that gestational carriers and their partners (if applicable) undergo the following tests within 90 days of embryo transfer:

1. HIV-1 antibody as well as NAT (or MPX)
2. HIV-2 antibody
3. HIV group O antibody
4. Hepatitis C antibody and NAT (or MPX)
5. Hepatitis B surface antigen 1304
6. Hepatitis B core antibody (IgG and IgM)
7. Serologic test for syphilis (TP or RPR)
8. CMV (IgG and IgM)
9. Additional testing for the gestational carrier’s male partner (if applicable):

1. 1. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2
   2. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (IgG and IgM)

Embryo Transfer: Embryo transfer is a minor procedure. Following the procedure, the gestational carrier’s hormone levels are tracked through blood test to confirm pregnancy.