Can You be a Surrogate with Your Tubes Tied?
Being a surrogate is one of the most meaningful life experiences, but can you be a surrogate if you have your tubes tied?
Knowing that you must successfully carry a pregnancy as a gestational surrogate, it’s natural to wonder if your tubes are tied; it may have even been the first question that popped into your head after thinking about becoming a surrogate.
The exciting and possibly surprising answer for many is YES! You can become a surrogate with your tubes tied; whether your tubes are tied, cauterized, or cut, you can still become a surrogate. In fact, those with tubal ligations often make excellent surrogates because they usually have a proven track record of fertility and meet many other surrogacy requirements.
While other things may disqualify someone with their tubes tied from surrogacy, having a tubal ligation is not one of them. That’s because having your tubes tied is a measure to prevent natural pregnancy, in which the sperm and egg must travel into and meet within the fallopian tubes. However, most surrogacy pregnancies today are established via IVF, a method of achieving pregnancy that completely bypasses the fallopian tubes.
For the remainder of this article, we will explain precisely how being a surrogate with your tubes tied is possible and help point you in the right direction to learn more and start your surrogacy journey.
How is Being a Surrogate Possible after a Tubal Ligation?
The most common way a surrogate pregnancy is established (and the only way if working with a surrogate agency) is through a process called In Vitro Fertilization.
IVF is a popular medical treatment that uses a series of medications, procedures, and laboratory techniques to achieve a pregnancy.
During IVF, mature eggs are collected or “retrieved” from ovaries in a mild surgical procedure called an egg retrieval. The eggs are then fertilized by sperm in a lab and grown in the lab for a few days. After developing in the lab for 3-7 days, the embryo(s) are carefully deposited into the uterus in a quick office procedure called the embryo transfer.
Because the eggs are removed from the ovaries, and the embryos are deposited directly into the uterus, the IVF process completely bypasses the fallopian tubes making them generally a non-factor in the IVF process. Sometimes, doctors may even recommend removing the fallopian tubes before IVF.
IVF can be done using a couple’s eggs and sperm, or it may involve eggs, sperm, or embryos from a donor. Similarly, in a “typical” IVF procedure involving a male-female couple, the embryo is transferred into the female partner’s uterus. In the case of surrogacy, the embryo is transferred directly into the gestational surrogate’s uterus. Again, because IVF conception occurs in a laboratory and the embryos are transferred directly into the surrogate’s uterus, they do not need functioning tubes.
Watch the video below to learn more about the IVF egg retrieval, embryo development, and embryo transfer process.
Next Steps in Becoming a Surrogate with Your Tubes Tied
If you’re relieved to learn you can still be a surrogate with tubes tied, we encourage you to learn more about being a surrogate and applying if you meet all the surrogate requirements.
The Bottom Line About Becoming a Surrogate with Your Tubes Tied
Many women who feel their family is complete choose to get their tubes tied. Maybe you’ve done the same and were worried that doing so might prevent you from becoming a surrogate.
Fortunately, as we’ve learned in this article, you can still be a gestational surrogate with your tubes tied.
Whether you miss being pregnant or desperately want to help a family struggling to grow their family, being a surrogate is a rewarding experience like no other.
Whether your just beginning to explore the idea of becoming a surrogate or are ready to get started, we’re here to help.