At the Fertility & Reproductive Medicine Center, we believe that there is no one right way to build a family. That’s why we offer a variety of options – including helping couples and individuals work with a gestational carrier to have a baby.
We use in vitro fertilization (IVF) to create embryos that we can then transfer to the gestational carrier. We can create embryos using a couple’s eggs and sperm, donor eggs, donor sperm or any combination of those.
We understand that making the decision to use a gestational carrier can be emotionally difficult. Our caring team of fertility and reproductive medicine experts provide compassionate guidance to help you explore this fulfilling way to build your family.
Using a Gestational Carrier: Why Choose Us?
Our fertility specialists will walk you through the process and help you determine if this is the right option for you and your partner. When you come to us to use a gestational carrier, you will find:
- Assistance finding a gestational carrier: Although we do not provide carriers, we can help guide you through the process of finding one. Our services include referring you to an agency specializing in gestational carriers or sharing ways in which other people have found carriers – including using a friend or relative.
- Medical screening: Once you have located a carrier, she will go through our thorough medical and psychological evaluation. We perform the evaluation before moving forward with your cycle.
- Emotional support: The process of using a gestational carrier can be emotionally challenging. We refer people and their carriers to counseling to ensure that all involved are comfortable with the process.
- Legal guidance: We refer people to attorneys who specialize in third-party reproduction and can clarify the legal issues involved in using a gestational carrier. The embryos used in this process can be created using a couple’s eggs and sperm, donor eggs, donor sperm or any combination of those. The resulting embryos are then transferred to the gestational carrier, who has no genetic relationship to the baby she will carry.
Contact Us
To make an appointment with a Washington University fertility and reproductive medicine specialist at the Women & Infants Center, call 855.925.0631.