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Gestational surrogacy is where the surrogate falls pregnant by having an embryo transfer. More commonly it’s a frozen transfer as the embryos are usually already created, however sometimes it can be a fresh transfer, but that has no difference on the outcome. The surrogate once matched will then have their first consultation at the clinic wherever the couple are already storing there embryos or registered. There’s 2 types of cycle, medicated or unmedicated, that varies depending on the clinic and the possibly age of the surrogate, medical history and the clinics preference. Medicated means the clinic are more in control of the surrogates cycle, and can be a bit more predictable in planning the transfer, and will be supported by the medication the clinic chooses and how the surrogate responds. It can possibly help in delaying a transfer however it’s very hard to explain in full as we are not licensed to give specific medical advice or guidance I’m only explaining from my experience. After the first couple of appointments which usually include scans and blood tests as well as individual and joint counselling sessions they then prepare for the actual transfer by monitoring the lining of the womb and ensuring progesterone levels are correct etc. Once they are happy with everything they proceed with the transfer which is totally painless and the actual procedure itself takes minutes. It’s done by ensuring the surrogate has a full bladder and while one nurse is scanning by an abdominal ultrasound the Dr prepares the surrogate by inserting a catheter directly into the uterus for the actual transfer. Once that’s done the embryologist then brings in the embryo, either one or two will be put back again depending on individual circumstances. It is bought into the room in a syringe and placed at the end of the catheter and then the embryo or embryos are placed directly into the uterus which can be watched on the ultrasound screen and is truly amazing to see. The procedure is painless, maybe very very slight cramping can be felt and once the procedure is done then the surrogate can empty her bladder and resume her normal day however any heavy lifting is not recommend and some people prefer to take things a bit easy.  A pregnancy test is then done 10-14 day’s after, normally by a blood test measuring the HCG levels to see whether it’s been successful. After the transfer the surrogate will continue to take progesterone as that’s what supports the pregnancy until usually 12 weeks when the placenta takes over which is taken in many different ways depending on what the clinics decided. The embryos are usually genetically the Intended Parents or depending on each individual case sometimes either egg or sperm donors will have been used to create the embryos, however it’s never biologically linked to the surrogate she merely carries it.

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Please note this is from Rachels personal experience, but clinics may vary their methods depending on each individual.