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Third party reproduction

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  1. Sperm donation. A third party provides sperm that can be used for insemination of the future mother or to fertilise an ovum for re-insertion of the resulting embryo into the mother, or by embryo transfer into a surrogate mother.
  2. Ovum donation. An egg donor provides ova for fertilization in the IVF process. The embryo is placed into the uterus/womb of the future mother (embryo transfer).
  3. Gestational carrier. A woman carries a baby through the pregnancy for another person. This involves the use of IVF as the embryo is implanted by embryo transfer.

Thus a child can have a genetic and social (non-genetic, non-biologic) father, and a genetic, gestational, and social (non-biologic) mother, and any combinations thereof. Theoretically a child thus could have 5 parents.


Surrogacy includes, in its wider sense, all situations where a surrogate carries a pregnancy for another person. Recently, there has been a tendency to separate the gestational carrier situation from the "true" surrogate restricting the term for a woman who provides a combination of ovum donation and gestational carrier services.[How to reference and link to summary or text]

In a 'conventional surrogacy', a surrogate agrees to be inseminated with the sperm of the male partner of the 'commissioning' couple, or with the sperm of one of the male partners in a same-sex relationship, or with sperm provided by a sperm donor. The surrogate is inseminated, conceives, and hands over the baby at the completion of the pregnancy. In conventional surrogacy, the egg which is fertilized is therefore that of the surrogate. A famous case involving paternity rights and surrogacy is the Baby M case.

In a 'gestational surrogacy', a surrogate agrees to the implantation in her of an embryo which may be created either by using an egg provided by another woman who may be part of a 'commissioning' couple, or she may be a single woman. Alternatively, an egg provided by a donor may be used to create the embryo. The embryo implanted in the surrogate may be fertilised using sperm from the male partner of the 'commissioning couple', or by using sperm provided by a sperm donor.

Embryo donation is where extra embryos from a successful IVF of a couple are given to other couples or women for transfer with the goal of producing a successful pregnancy. Embryos for embryo donation may also be created specifically for embryo transfer using donor eggs and sperm, or in some cases donor eggs and donor sperm. It may thus be seen as a combination of sperm donation and egg donation, since what is donated is a combination of these. Such embryos may also be donated to a 'commissioning' woman or a 'commissioning' couple and gestated by a surrogate where, for example, the 'commissioning' woman or the woman of the 'commissioning' couple is infertile and is unable to bring a pregnancy to full term on medical grounds, or is unwilling for social, medical or other reasons, to do so.

External links Edit

  • Parents Via Egg Donation Yahoo Group is a support forum open to Parents and Parents to be who have been, or are attempting to become, parents through egg donation. List Owner, Marna D. Gatlin.]
  • Parents Via Egg Donation Organization was created to provide an informational and supportive environment where parents and parents-to-be can come together to exchange information about all facets of the egg donation process with respect to growing their families.

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