Bourn Hall has significant experience of IVF with surrogacy treatment and we can offer an experienced and supportive team to guide you in this journey.
An IVF surrogacy arrangement is when a woman (the host) agrees to bear a child for another couple. More information is available at our Pathways to Parenthood event.
Surrogacy may be appropriate if you have a medical condition that makes it impossible or dangerous to get pregnant and give birth, or in the case of a same-sex male couple where a surrogate host is needed.
We offer IVF surrogacy treatment to heterosexual and same sex couples although fertility clinics are not allowed to find a host for you. However, you may already have someone who has agreed to be a host or alternatively there are a number of UK agencies working in this area and contact details are available on our useful websites page.
The commissioning couple cover the cost of treatment and would normally provide expenses to the host to cover loss of earnings and travel within the limits set by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) on payment.
IVF Surrogacy
IVF treatment requires several outpatient visits to one of our clinics where our expert staff will look after both of you every step of the way. After the IVF treatment the surrogate would be referred back to her own doctor and care would continue as for any other pregnancy.
Surrogacy is a big step and needs careful consideration. Prior to undertaking treatment patients all have counselling and we strongly suggest all parties involved take advice, including legal advice from one of the surrogacy support organisations and from a solicitor with a specialism in surrogacy law .
If you would like to know more about surrogacy, further information is available on the HFEA website. You can also read a stories about surrogacy on the Bourn Hall Clinic case studies page.
Dads achieve dream with surrogacy
Gary and his husband Matthew always wanted to be parents and received the ultimate gift when a family member offered to be their surrogate.
Gary explains: “It was Christmas time with my family, including my brother Jason and his wife Ollie, and we told them that after considering adoption we were going to take some time to re-evaluate our options.”
The conversation made Ollie think about what family meant to her and in the New Year she contacted the couple and suggested being a surrogate for them.
Gary continues: “Ollie said that she and Jason had discussed the matter; that she’d be honoured to be a surrogate mother for us and happy to help if she could.”
Matthew adds: “We didn’t know how to react as it was such an amazing gift.”
Ollie’s offer meant that Gary and Matthew were a major step closer to their dream of having a family and they started researching clinics that would support them.
Surrogacy was Chloe’s only chance of a baby using her own eggs
When Chloe was 16 she was told by doctors that she had MRKH and had been born without a womb.
“I still have my ovaries so can produce eggs, but I will never be able to carry a baby myself,” explains Chloe.
Chloe married Chris in 2018 and the couple went to Bourn Hall where the clinic collected some of Chloe’s eggs and fertilised them with Chris’s sperm and placed the embryos in frozen storage until they had found a surrogate.
In 2020 Chloe and Chris joined Surrogacy UK and became part of their online members website. Eight months later they met Sophie and a few months later became a ‘team’. Sophie underwent the Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) at Bourn Hall in January 2022. “I was able to be in the room with her and held her hand as we watched it on the screen,” says Chloe.
Two weeks later it was confirmed that Sophie was pregnant with Chloe and Chris’s baby – the treatment had worked first time.
“When Matthew was born I was allowed to cut the cord and I had my first skin-to-skin with him it was really lovely,” says Chloe. “Chris then came to meet him and we were very, very happy it was just such a surreal moment.”
Meet Julie, one of our surrogacy team
Julie Middlemas is a Fertility Nurse Associate and Surrogacy Coordinator at Bourn Hall who has seen a recent rise in surrogacy treatments at the clinic.
“The decision on when to find a surrogate is entirely up to the intended parents, however, it can be a lengthy process to find someone that they feel comfortable sharing this journey with,” says Julie.
“If the couple are intending to use their own embryos, it may be beneficial to create and freeze these embryos with us either before or whilst in the early stages of finding a surrogate. Some surrogates do prefer couples who already have frozen embryos as this means that once all the checks have been undertaken, treatment can start sooner.
“Once a couple have found their surrogate all parties are included in the planning of the surrogacy treatment. We hold both separate and joint discussions between the clinical team, surrogate, and the intended parents.
“I feel it is important to create a trusting relationship between myself and the surrogacy party and aim to make their journey as smooth as possible. Their treatment is tailored to their needs, and I try to always be there for them along the way. I enjoy my role as Surrogacy Co-Ordinator, and to know that you have helped a couple to become a family is very rewarding.”
More information
Find out more about IVF with surrogacy treatment at Bourn Hall.
Read some of our surrogacy stories:
Surrogacy helped Amanda have her own child after cancer
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