No, the baby will not look like a gestational surrogate. A baby born through surrogacy process will have a combination of physical characteristics (looks) of the egg and sperm provider since the baby's DNA only comes from the egg and sperm used to create the embryo, and not the surrogate.
So, if the surrogate is a traditional surrogate (meaning she contributed the egg in addition to carrying the baby), then yes — the baby will look like her. If, however, the surrogate is a gestational surrogate (meaning another woman's egg was used to create the embryo), then the baby will not look like the surrogate.
A fairly common question that people have is whether the baby will share the DNA of the surrogate mother. The short answer is – no. All babies, no matter the nature of their conception, have the genetic material provided by the parents. Therefore, the surrogate mother contributes little or none of the genetic material.
With a gestational surrogacy, the surrogate is not genetically related to the embryo they carry, and so the baby will not look like them, but will look like the intended parents.
The surrogate then carries the baby until birth. They don't have any genetic ties to the child because it wasn't their egg that was used. A gestational surrogate is called the "birth mother." The biological mother, though, is still the woman whose egg was fertilized.
In gestational surrogacy, there is no way for a surrogate to transfer DNA to a child, because the intended mother's or donor's egg is used instead of the gestational surrogate's. This complete separation of surrogate-baby DNA is an important point, because it protects everyone involved in the process.
The Genetics of a Donor Egg
Because a donor egg won't share any of its genes with its intended mother, there's a chance the baby will not resemble its mother. However, if her partner's sperm was used, the baby may look like its father because they share the same genetics.
Can a surrogate mother decide to keep the baby? No. While a surrogate has rights, the right to keep the child is not one of them. Once legal parenthood is established, the surrogate has no legal rights to the child and she cannot claim to be the legal mother.
Islamic ethics strictly advises to form the family solely on the basis of biological ties. Islam condemns surrogacy because the child will be deprived of information about his lineage and may result, unknowingly, in half-sibling marriage which is a dangerous consequence for a society.
Do surrogates get paid if they miscarry? Surrogates are paid as they achieve specific milestones during the surrogacy journey. If you experience an unforeseen event like a miscarriage during your surrogacy journey, you will be compensated up to that point.
Can my surrogate decide to keep the baby? While your surrogate has many rights outlined in your contract, a gestational carrier cannot choose to keep the child because she won't have parental rights to the baby and won't be biologically related.
In the UAE, Surrogacy agreements are totally prohibited due to the fact that it is an Islamic state and any body found involved in this act is said to have committed a criminal offence. The act itself attracts a jail term of not less than one year.
Religious Views on Surrogacy
Instead, the Church teaches that children are a gift from God, only to be conceived and carried naturally by a married husband and wife. Any addition of a third party to this process is considered immoral.
Seeking a cure for infertility is not only permissible, but also encouraged in Islam. In Islamic law, all assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are allowed, provided that the source of the sperm, ovum, and uterus comes from a legally married couple during the span of their marriage.
In commercial surrogacy arrangements in the US, the chances of the surrogate keeping the baby are 5 times less likely than the intended parents refusing to take the baby. Think that over for a moment. Intended parents are more likely to refuse to take the baby than a surrogate is likely to want to keep it.
The biological processes associated with this remain largely unclear, but epigenetic changes are suspected. It's possible that conception by assisted reproductive technology disrupts the epigenetic process, resulting in a greater liklihood of congenital abnormalities caused by epigenetic changes.
The big question for future moms who use this method is if the baby will look like them, since the fertilized egg is from another person. The answer is that it is very likely that it resembles the mother.
It is true that when using a donor egg, the baby will inherit DNA from the egg donor and the sperm and not the recipient mother, but heritability is more complicated than that. For DNA to function it has to receive instructions, just like computer hardware has to receive instructions from the software program.
It's not allowed. Here's the fatwa: Scholars of Islam have pronounced the following fatwa (Islamic verdict) regarding surrogacy: It is illegal and immoral to introduce into a woman the sperm of any man other than her husband.
The UAE health sector will now be providing advanced diagnostic services and IVF treatments free of charge to the country's underprivileged couples who are struggling to conceive naturally.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends that surrogate be between the ages of 21 and 45, with surrogates over 45 being acceptable as long as all parties are “informed about the potential risks of pregnancy with advancing maternal age.”
It is very crucial to remember that it's absolutely illegal for any woman who's unmarried or single to be pregnant while residing in UAE. The consequences of local authorities discovering that any single woman is carrying a baby can include jail and deportation.
In order to carry a surrogate child, medical professionals recommend that you have no more than 5 previous pregnancies. Likewise, after the pregnancy that would be the surrogate's sixth birth, many women will no longer be cleared to be a surrogate again.
These guidelines focus on the safety and health of the surrogate mother and the baby she is carrying and recommend having no more than 6 total pregnancies if you are to be a surrogate mother.
When a surrogate finds herself carrying multiple fetuses (greater than twins), often physicians will recommend a selective reduction to reduce the number of fetuses to just one or two in order to increase the chances of a successful, full-term pregnancy and delivery of a healthy baby.