However, on the way to the dream of future parents, there are numerous fears and doubts. To understand the intricacies of reproductive technologies and dispel some myths about them, Woman's Day decided.
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Myth number 1
Fear of genetic parents that surrogacythe mother will change her mind about giving up the child“In fact, fear is present on all sides,” says Elena Viktorovna Koloshina, an obstetrician-gynecologist and reproductive specialist. “Genetic parents are afraid that, having carried their child, the incubator mother may become attached to the child during pregnancy and not give it up. But the surrogate mother is also overcome by her fears! What if she gives birth to a child, and the parents-customers do not like it and they change their mind about taking it? To eliminate the basis for such fears, the parties draw up a legal agreement in which everything is spelled out down to the smallest detail, taking into account the wishes of both the genetic parents and the surrogate mother. As a rule, medical centers specializing in surrogacy employ competent lawyers who help draw up a bilateral agreement. Moreover, the medical institution only provides medical assistance (to the surrogate mother and the donor of gametes) and has nothing to do with the legal side of the issue." By the way, unlike IVF (in vitro fertilization), there are no state programs for surrogate motherhood. Only private clinics do this.
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Myth number 2
A child can inherit from a surrogate mothersome diseases“A child from a surrogate mother cannot inherit a genetic pathology, since this woman is carrying a child that is biologically alien to her, with the genes of his parents,” Taisiya Sergeevna Izmailova, an obstetrician-gynecologist and reproductologist, refutes speculation. “But if the surrogate mother suffers from some kind of infection during pregnancy, then undesirable consequences for the fetus are possible. That is why it is better to look for a surrogate mother not through specialized agencies, but through clinics that have a database of fully examined and healthy women.”
Myth number 3
IVF is not safe for the health of the child andmoms“Surrogacy, of course, has its negative aspects,” says Elena Koloshina, obstetrician-gynecologist, reproductologist. “Since this is artificial insemination, every healthy female body must reject the foreign protein (embryo). And the embryo (fetus) is foreign to it. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the surrogate mother for this period with the help of medications that she takes so that she does not have a miscarriage. Naturally, such therapy is not entirely beneficial for the woman’s health, because it is a fight with nature. We fight nature with the help of drugs that reduce the woman’s immunity so that the body does not reject the fetus. You cannot do without drugs here.
Photo:Getty ImagesAs for the fetus itself, these drugs do not have any effect on it. But I would like to note that with any variants of in vitro fertilization using donor cells (both male and female), the use of drugs is much safer than in the case when a woman undergoes treatment for years to get pregnant on her own. Long-term treatment is much less useful than a one-time visit to IVF. There is another misconception: if a woman gets pregnant with the help of IVF, then she must have a "cesarean section". This is not true. If there are no justified indications for a cesarean section, then women give birth on their own just fine. Of course, there are conservative methods of treating infertility, but they are not always successful. And if a year of such treatment has passed unsuccessfully, pregnancy does not occur, doctors recommend IVF, while age allows it.
