Perhaps you can relate to this scenario: After a year or two or maybe more of trying to get pregnant, your doctor breaks the news that your most likely options for having a child are egg donation or surrogacy. You and your partner are devastated that your dream of raising a child has been dashed. It is perfectly normal and appropriate to grieve over this news.

However, you are not alone. First of all, there are counselors and fertility specialists who can help you walk through your decision. At RSI we treat every patient with compassion and carefully help them consider their options. It is our #1 priority to help you successfully become parents. Secondly, there are millions of other couples out there who have found themselves in your shoes and are now parents. Look through websites and agencies to read some testimonials of people who have started their families by way of egg donation, surrogacy and gestational carrier. You may appreciate knowing that the Reproductive Science Institute of Suburban Philadelphia, P.C. has excellent egg donor and surrogate programs. 

If you are new to all of this, some things to think about before your first appointment with your chosen infertility doctor:

Egg Donation: A donated egg will often be fertilized by the male partner’s sperm and the resulting embryo will then be implanted via IVF either into the female partner’s uterus or that of a surrogate. Many egg donors choose to remain anonymous but every once in awhile you will have the option to know more about your egg donor. In rare, but not unusual, cases, an egg donor might be a family member or friend of the couple. 

Surrogacy: A surrogate always is impregnated via IVF, either with an embryo created by the male partner’s sperm and a donor egg or by an embryo created by the sperm and egg of both partners in the couple hoping to be parents (in this case, the surrogate is referred to as a gestational carrier). Again, it is typical to choose a surrogate carrier by way of an agency or often through your fertility clinic but every once in awhile, a couple will have a known family member or friend carry their baby.

After you’ve taken some time to process your situation, schedule a consultation as a couple with a fertility clinic that you have found based on recommendations or based on its reputation. From that point on, the health professionals at your clinic will: see to it that each and every one of your questions is answered; help you assess all the options available to you based on your unique situation; carefully guide you through the screening and selection process of choosing either an egg donor or surrogate if that is the route you choose to take. We wish you the very best of luck!

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