Rhesus conflict in surrogacy

Choosing a surrogate mother requires a responsible approach, carefully checking if a woman meets all the selection criteria. Usually, this is done by special centers that look for women willing to take part in a surrogacy program. Potential surrogate mother has to meet rather stringent requirements.

Basic parameters for surrogate selection:

• age
• somatic health indicators
• mental stability
• presence of own children
• healthy lifestyle
• positive Rh factor

It is the latter that we are going to talk about today. What is the threat of a negative Rh factor in a surrogate mother? Why is it important to pay attention to this parameter?

Why do specialists recommend choosing a surrogate with a positive Rh factor?

Delivering Dreams employees emphasize that one of the main criteria for choosing a surrogate is a positive Rh factor. Though the blood group of the future child is determined by the biological parents within the program, and the surrogate mother has no influence on this factor, one should still pay attention to blood matching.

If you are interested in cost of gestational surrogacy, we advise you USA-based company Delivering Dreams.

In case the blood type of the surrogate mother is negative and the baby is positive, there may be a Rh conflict, which may lead to extra difficulties.  A woman’s body will produce antibodies that will affect the course of pregnancy and fetal development.  In some cases, such a mismatch can lead to the death of the baby.

It is for these reasons that Rh-negative women are not suitable for participation in substitute pregnancy. Potential candidates who are Rh positive may not have a conflict.

Ability to select the healthiest embryos for in vitro fertilization

It is well known that in-vitro fertilization is not always successful at the first attempt; it is often necessary to repeat the procedure. Scientists are actively working to improve and enhance this method of infertility treatment. For example, scientists at Adelaide University found a way to find the healthiest embryos for IVF.

Previously, at the stage of selecting embryos used a microscope, which was used to select the most viable embryos. You could say that with this equipment you can discard unsuitable embryos, but you can’t find the best ones. This requires more serious methods.

A new discovery in this area is hyperspectral scanning. The technology allows us to see abnormalities and track metabolic features by measuring the light produced by the embryo. The more uniform the glow, the healthier the embryo.

The experiments were based on animal embryos. Human material has not yet been tested.

So what is the benefit of this study? First of all, it reduces the cost of in vitro fertilization, making it more affordable and successful. There is no need to repeat the procedure several times.