Surrogacy

A journey through the IVF donor and surrogacy process in Canada

By Nancy Lam, Surrogacy Lawyer

Whether you put it off to pursue your career or whether you wanted some down time before you had your second child, many women are shocked and guilt ridden when they discover they are infertile.  The truth is that infertility is a problem for 1 in 6 couples in Canada.   Unfortunately, many couples do not readily admit to or discuss the problem and this makes it difficult to gather information.  A couple may only need a little help from a doctor to use their own reproductive material to become pregnant or a couple may need a lot of help ranging from donated reproductive materials – in vitro fertilization  to a donated womb – surrogacy.  Regardless of which form of assisted human reproductive technology you may need, the following are some facts you should know to help in your journey to start a family. 

For Carrie finding a good doctor from the outset who suited her needs would have saved her time and anxiety. Carrie’s family doctor referred her to Dr. Young an obstetrician gynecologist who dealt with infertility.  The problem was he was not open to Carrie’s suggestion of using donated eggs even after an unsuccessful year with him.  Finally after another 6 months Dr. Young referred Carrie to Dr. Zeal, an endocrinologist.  Dr. Zeal was a specialist in the reproductive organs, more experienced with infertility and he used more aggressive treatments.  He was exactly what Carrie needed to help her.  Obviously Carrie felt a sense of urgency when she learned she faced infertility and waiting to research or to try and get an appointment with a specialist often means another 6 months delay.  However, if you take just a few days to speak to friends or colleagues who may have another specialist’s name or even to contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to find a specialist, you can conduct a quick telephone research to make some assessment of  which specialist might be best for you.  Some factors to consider in determining which doctor is best for you include:  whether or not the doctor actually walks you through the entire pregnancy and delivery, what forms of assisted human reproduction the doctor has employed in the past, and how many years of experience in infertility has the doctor had.

Carrie wanted to arm herself with as much information as possible.  She turned to the internet.  She found that searching the words “infertility, IVF and surrogacy” most of the websites that popped up were American or internationally based - not much from Canadian sources.   Four Canadian organizations with some useful website information are Health Canada, the Infertility Association of Canada, the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society and the Infertility Network.  Carrie actually joined blogs and asked questions of an American doctor.   

Carrie learned that a third party assisted pregnancy involved many other professionals including psychologists, counselors and lawyers.  Carrie and her partner, and the donor had to see separate psychologists.  The psychologists needed to ensure that all the participants were emotionally prepared to engage in the whole process.  Canvassing issues such as the ethical and emotional impact of the links between the egg donor, the child to be and the parents before committing to such a procedure is safer for everyone.  Closely tied to the need for psychologists are counselors or support groups.  Couples need to ensure that they have a strong support group or counselor they can depend on when the inevitable ups and downs of assisted reproduction occur.  Donors and surrogates also need to have similar support networks available to openly discuss reservations or concerns that arise throughout such a process.  Finally, Carrie and her partner and the donor and her partner had to see two separate lawyers to ensure they each understood their rights and obligations under the contract they were signing as well as under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act.   In addition, for couples who need to rely on a surrogate you will also need a lawyer to have you declared as the parents of your baby.
 
While costs are not a key concern when it comes to starting a family, it is an issue to be considered.  Assisted reproductive technology procedures are not covered by provincial health care except in limited cases in Ontario and in Quebec 2 infertility treatments are covered.   Private health insurance may cover some of the procedures and one couple in Alberta who used a surrogate successfully won a case to have the surrogate expenses qualify as medical expenses eligible for a write off in the husband’s personal income tax return.    Couples considering surrogacy and pregnancy using donated reproductive materials will likely need to pay for their own costs as well as the costs of the donor or surrogate to be involved.  A general list of the costs that may arise in such procedures includes: medications, medical tests, hospitalization costs, costs of the actual transfer of materials, regular check ups, out of pocket expenses for the donor/surrogate, cost of storage of retrieved materials, transportation costs for the donor, and the costs for the psychologist, counselor and lawyer.

If infertility is an issue for you, and your journey potentially requires a third party assisted pregnancy try to take a step back to give yourself some options and to do some research and educate yourself.