Gestational surrogacy is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways for families to grow in number. But how successful is it? In what way are statistics collected?
While we wish it was as simple as looking at a pie chart or a few lines of data, there are several factors that play into the gestational surrogacy success rate. Included in this is the difficulty in regulating the consistency of how data is reported.
Here at Adoption Choices of Oklahoma, we are here to ensure that your success rate is the best that it can be.
What Plays into the Gestational Surrogacy Success Rate?
1) Age
While a woman’s age is one of the most important factors regarding gestational surrogacy, it is not the only one. As a woman ages, it is inevitable that there are physical changes, such as wrinkles, sagging, and grey hair. But aging also occurs internally. The older you are, the fewer eggs you have. This can make it more challenging to retrieve your eggs. For more information regarding this, be sure to consult with your doctor and healthcare team.
2) The IVF Process
Other factors of the gestational surrogacy success rate include those of the IVF process. The process of implanting or transferring more than one embryo may result in a multiple-birth pregnancy. This process is known as SET or DET (single embryo transfer or double embryo transfer). As a result, these statistics cannot be as accurate as experts would like. Here are the reasons for implanting more than one embryo at a time:
- The possibility of one or more of the embryos not implanting
- Treatment costs
- Gestational carrier/intended mother stress from multiple transfer attempts
3) Implanting Multiple Embryos
The number of embryos transferred does not increase the chances of live birth. It only increases the chance of having multiple pregnancies and all the risks associated with it. The CDC feels it is important to monitor the safety and effectiveness of gestational surrogacy. While everyone always wants to know a number, we must remember that the safety and health of everyone involved is the most important aspect.
Success Rate Reports
Since the success rates for gestational carriers are reported differently in various locations, exact numbers cannot be claimed. Your success rate increases with gestational surrogacy if the egg and sperm are coming from younger, healthier individuals who have no major health issues in their past or current medical history. It also helps if both individuals are non-smokers. The Society for Assisted Reproduction Technology (SART) states that gestational carriers have a 95% success rate for a healthy birth.
Some IVF clinics will likely recommend Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) so that the healthiest embryos can be transferred. Typically, the best will be utilized for elective single-embryo transfer (eSET), while the remaining embryos are cryo-preserved. This process only increases the success rate.
Something else to remember is that statistics surrounding gestational surrogacy are typically 2-3 years behind due to the fact that it takes a lot of time and effort to get the numbers and facts reported. The ongoing process measures cycles resulting in pregnancy, live birth, as well as frozen embryos transfers (FET), which later result in a pregnancy. Current statistics are from 2017 and 2018. While it can be frustrating to not have up-to-date statistics, just remember this quote from Gloria Vanderbilt: “One woman’s success can only help another woman’s success.”
Gestational Surrogacy Success Rate
The more results, knowledge, and statistics we gain from gestational surrogacy help other women achieve their dreams of having children to call their own. While Adoption Choices of Oklahoma cannot ensure you a 100% success rate with gestational surrogacy, we can ensure you that we are 110% here for you and your family on your journey to gestational surrogacy.
Adoption Choices of Oklahoma
Adoption Choices of Oklahoma is a private adoption agency, licensed by the state of Oklahoma and leader in the adoption community. We have been assisting birth parents, children, and adoptive families in Oklahoma for over 19 years. Our staff members are committed to providing an ethical, empowering, and personalized adoption experience to all involved in the adoption process. If you are currently in the process of adopting a baby and have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us. You may visit our website here or call 405-794-7500 (Oklahoma City) or 918-982-6220 (Tulsa).
Support Adoption Choices
Adoption Choices, Inc. is partnering with Crowdrise, a fundraising website for nonprofits, to help our adoptive parents and birth parents with much needed financial assistance. We understand that expenses keep clients from fulfilling their dreams. Both with birth parents making a plan for adoption, and with adoptive parents growing their family. It is our mission to provide financial assistance through grants and scholarships, awarded annually in November, in honor of National Adoption Month. Funds assist adoptive parents with matching and placements, adoption finalization and helping birth mothers improve their lives through higher education — and much more.
However, we can’t do it alone. Please read up on our programs and donate money where you are able. Your donation will make a huge impact.
About the Author
Ashley Johnson is an Editorial Intern from Pendroy, Montana. She writes a weekly lifestyle blog which includes adoption and surrogacy. Before starting at Adoption Choices, Inc., Ashley worked for six years as a legal clerk for a judge in Montana. She has decided to go back to college to finish her degree in Communications in hopes of pursuing her passion for writing. Ashley is excited to share her experience with adoption as well as being able to bring a rural outlook on adoption and surrogacy.
In her spare time, Ashley enjoys working on her family ranch with her husband and two children, coaching high school basketball and settling in.
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Sources:
“ART Success Rates | CDC”. Cdc.Gov, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/art/artdata/index.html.
” In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) – Mayo Clinic”. Mayoclinic.Org, 2020, https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/in-vitro-fertilization/about/pac-20384716.
“Success Rates”. Sart.Org, 2020, https://www.sart.org/patients/a-patients-guide-to-assisted-reproductive-technology/general-information/success-rates/.
