What you need to know about worldwide cryo-shipping of eggs and embryos for Surrogacy

1. What is surrogacy: where is it allowed and who may need it
2. Rules for the international transportationof genetic materials for surrogacy

What is surrogacy: where is it allowed and who may need it

Surrogate motherhood involves helping a woman to carry a child for people who are unable to bear it on their own. Basic requirements for a woman for this role- age up to 45 years, at least one own child born naturally, suitability for this role confirmed by medical and psychological examinations.

The attitude of legislation to this service varies from country to country. Completely prohibited in France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Norway, and most Muslim countries. In a number of countries it is allowed only on a non-commercial basis and is poorly regulated by law, for example, in Canada and Belgium. It is legally and actively practiced in the USA, India and Ukraine on a commercial and non-commercial basis and complies with world medical standards.

In countries where altruistic surrogacy is allowed, future parents are required to reimburse the surrogate mother for expenses incurred during pregnancy. But there are some difficulties with finding women who want to bear a child for other people. Firstly, because in principle there are few people with such a pronounced motivation, and secondly, some countries also prohibit advertising of such services. Therefore, the search will have to be carried out with the help of agencies with their own databases or according to the recommendations of reproductive clinics.

In countries where surrogacy is legal and practiced on a commercial basis, the selection of a suitable candidate is much easier: reproductive clinics will have an impressive base of reliable and examined surrogate mothers with experience.

Important: Feskov Human Reproduction Group carries out reproductive programs in partner clinics in many countries around the world. At the same time, contracts are concluded with proven surrogate mothers from Ukraine. This measure allows you to reliably protect the rights of biological parents in accordance with Ukrainian law. The level of Ukrainian reproductive medicine is not inferior to the world leader - the United States. At the same time, the cost of a full cycle of procedures is 50-70% lower.

There are absolute and relative indications for surrogate motherhood. The absolute ones are:

• The absence of the uterus or its deformation, making it impossible to carry a pregnancy;
• Uncorrected uterine synechia;
• Cirrhosis of the liver and severe kidney disease;
• Complicated hypertension;
• Heart disease;
• Lupusery thematosus;
• Epilepsy;
• Oncology (notinremission).

Relativecontraindications:

• Diabetes;
• Exacerbation of chronic diseases;
• Surgery less than 1 year ago;
• Chemotherapy less than 1 year ago;
• Infectious diseases in the acute phase;
• Multiple miscarriages after IVF with the transfer of genetically high-quality embryos.

As for the use of eggs and embryos in the clinic of your chosen country, there are two options for IVF: with fresh and cryopreserved genetic material. Let us consider these approaches in more detail.

Rules for the international transportationof genetic materials for surrogacy

If surrogacy is allowed in your country, then you can run a program with fresh, newly created embryos. The use of cryo-frozen embryos or eggs is relevant for you if you want to postpone pregnancy to a later date.

If surrogacy is prohibited in your area of residence, you will have to choose a clinic abroad. In this case transportation of frozen eggs embryos becomes relevant to you.

For reproductive procedures, the following can be transported from your country to a foreign clinic:

1. Oocytes.
2. Sperm.
3. Embryos.

All biological materials, in preparation for storage and transportation, undergo a vitrification procedure - ultra-fast freezing, which allows to preserve their properties for many decades. However, according to the standards of reproductive medicine, storage beyond 10 years is not recommended. 

Standard list of documents required for international delivery:

1. An application to the cryobank of your country with a request for the issuance of genetic material for its transportation to the reproductive center.
2. Certificates from the clinic confirming the quality of the embryos.
3. Confirmation from the reproduction center of readiness to accept the goods.
4. Authorization for the name of the courier who will deliver the biological materials.
5. Test results for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C (can be sent by e-mail).
6. Copies of a medical report with a diagnosis of infertility, marriage certificates, passports of both future parents, protocols of previous IVF programs (if any).

A detailed list of the necessary documentation will be provided to you upon request by the selected clinic.

Important: the pregnancy rate with cryofrozen embryos is 50-70% higher than with fresh ones. However, in order to guarantee such a result, Feskov Human Reproduction Group must be sure that the delivery of your embryos or biomaterials is carried out in accordance with our standards. For example, temperature control in the dewar during transportation and transfer of the embryo to a surrogate mother, who was prepared in advance for the procedure, within 7 days. Therefore, we work only with biological material transported with our help and under our control.

After the arrival of your embryos and their thawing, the standard process begins: selecting the highest quality embryos using pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and transferring them to the uterine cavity of the surrogate mother. Please note that you can become parents even without coming to our clinic! Our international distance programs help reduce the expenses of future parents, and cooperation with insurance companies - return the money spent!

We do not just provide reproductive services, we give guarantees! In case of unsuccessful IVF or abortion, wecarry out at our own expense as many repeated procedures as necessary for you to have a baby. You pay the cost of the selected services once and get a guaranteed result.

Contact our managers on the website - They will be happy to tell you more about each service.