Who Are Gestational Carriers?

Women who offer to be gestational carriers for others genuinely enjoy being pregnant, but they often don’t want to have more children. Their past pregnancies and deliveries have been easy.

These women want to serve and meet a need. They feel deeply for those who are suffering to build their families. Some women have a tenderness for LGBT parents-to-be, who face obstacles in achieving their dreams of parenting. For some, being a gestational carrier is a religious calling.

Compensated agreements are contracts in which the gestational carrier receives financial compensation for incurred expenses that come along with the process and the gestation.

In compassionate surrogacy agreements, the surrogate, usually a close friend or family member, offers to carry a pregnancy without fees.

Altruism is the primary motivation in good surrogacy arrangements, whether or not compensation is involved. Surrogates help people to become parents and to enjoy the blessings they’ve had with their own children.

ASRM, American Society for Reproductive Medicine: Who can be a gestational carrier?
The ideal Gestational Carrier is a healthy woman between the ages of 21 and 45 who has had a successful term pregnancy and has a supportive family environment to help her cope with the added stress of pregnancy. The carrier should have no more than five previous vaginal deliveries or two previous cesarean deliveries. Prior to becoming pregnant, the GC should talk about the risks of pregnancy with her healthcare provider.