Surrogacy Seminar

I think it very important to support the local surrogacy community, so when there is a seminar on surrogacy in town, I try to attend.  I am hopeful of learning something new and meeting others that are trying to take a similar journey. It is good to feel that we are not alone. 

The following are some comments from a recent event. 

Sam Etherington from “Families thru surrogacy” chaired a surrogacy seminar in Perth recently.  

The seminar included:

• Presentation from a NSW lawyer in relation to the legalities of surrogacy across different jurisdictions
• Heartfelt stories from Intending Parents (Arranging parents)
• Comments from a Director of an IVF clinic in USA
• Legal insights from lawyer in Canada, who has been an Arranging Parent twice
• Advice from a surrogacy organisation that has worked in Israel, Nepal and Ukraine

As part of the seminar, Mr Etherington provided a brief summary of international surrogacy:

• Thailand – closed down
• Nepal – no surrogacy laws, closed down
• India – banned foreigners, closed down
• Cambodia – no surrogacy laws – only 2 IVF clinics – considered high risk
• Mexico – a new country to surrogacy, very difficult to get paperwork organised
• Greece – opened up 8 months ago to heterosexual couples only, locating a surrogate is difficult
• Ukraine – presentation from Lotus Surrogacy, Dana Magdassi, - surrogacy is legal in Ukraine, socialized medical system, all requirements are provided during the pregnancy
• USA – many IVF clinics, presentation from Oregon Reproductive Medicine, John Hesta, formed 1989, 1000 egg cycles a year, about 150 surrogacy cycles per year, 140 egg donors
• Canada – Altruistic surrogacy, tolerant society, surrogacy is legal, reasonable costs, approximately 4 months to find a surrogate, system allows intending parents to reimburse surrogate expenses each month (one month at a time, rather than all up front), surrogacy legal in Canada for 35 years

While the seminar was only 2 hours long there was a large amount of information. Much of the information was not new to me, but I did start to understand some of the differences with the USA and Australian IVF processes.

In USA, Comprehensive Chromosome Screening is undertaken far more regularly than Australia, which has an impact on how and the number of embryos that are transferred. Comprehensive Chromosome Screening is about remove 5-10 trophectoderm cells from 5 to 6 day embryo. Genetic material is removed from the embryonic sac, not the future child.

In USA, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) collates surrogacy data. The is  very large body of information as IVF has been undertaken for a few decades. This  data set can be a useful resource in understanding the live birth rates from an IVF cycle across different age groups.

I got chatting to a number of lovely potential Arranging Parent couples. The question on the tip of my tongue (and all other couples) is how do I find a surrogate.  We all had a chat and came up with the standard people to ask, but we also identified some very “modern”, “innovative” methods:

• Family
• Sister
• Cousins
• Mother
• Aunts
• Friends
• Friends of friends
• Newspaper advertisement
• Social media
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Surrogacy forums

Note: In WA, Arranging Parents can advertise for a surrogate. In many jurisdictions across Australia advertising for a surrogate is illegal. Make sure you know what you can and cannot do.

Good luck on your journey