We are pleased to announce that for the very first time in our history as an organization, our research on gestational surrogacy has been officially published. We spent over two years compiling, analyzing, and evaluating the data, and our findings are significant.
ABSTRACT: This article evaluates the pregnancy experiences of American women by comparing their
spontaneous or non-surrogate pregnancies with their gestational surrogate pregnancies. Data
were collected through structured interviews using an online video platform. In total, 96
interviews were conducted. Data revealed that a woman was more likely to have a pregnancy
that was high-risk during a surrogate pregnancy than during a non-surrogate pregnancy,
independent of maternal age or gravidity (OR 11.4, 3.5-36.6; p<.0001). A surrogate pregnancy
had three times higher odds of resulting in a cesarean section (p<.0001) and was five times
more likely to deliver at an earlier gestational age (p<.0001). Women in this study were
significantly more likely to experience postpartum depression following the delivery of
surrogate children than after delivering their non-surrogate children (p=.01), and overall, they
were more likely to have adverse outcomes during a surrogate pregnancy. The rate of new
post-surrogacy chronic health issues for women of color was significantly higher than for
women identified as white (p<.0001). We found that women’s economic disadvantage was a
major contributor to the decision to proceed with surrogacy. This study confirms that health
disparities exist for women with surrogate pregnancies compared to non-surrogate
pregnancies, which can lead to long-term complications after a surrogate pregnancy. In terms
of biomedical ethics, it raises important social, economic, and political issues related to
surrogacy, all requiring further exploration. Future research will build on the present work in
further helping us to understand the circumstances and consequences involved for women in
surrogacy.