PSYCHOLOGICAL-ASPECTS OF EGG DONATION AND GESTATIONAL SURROGACY

The process of egg donation has now become a standard method of family building. A woman of any age can receive an oocyte from another woman of reproductive age, become pregnant, and deliver a baby. Although so mewhat less prevalent, gestational surrogacy is becoming more routine. A woman who has had a hysterectomy or a significant anatomic abnormal ity of her uterus can retain her child-bearing potential by having her egg fertilized and transferred into another woman's uterus. However, despite these procedures' enormous clinical success, far too little th ought is given to the psychological issues they create for patients an d society at large. In this article I describe some of the salient psy chological aspects of egg donation and gestational surrogacy.