History of Surrogacy: Inspiring Journey of Family Creation

How long has surrogacy been around? Let’s review the history of surrogacy from the beginning until now to learn how it started and what it is today. If you’re new to the topic, start with our overview of what surrogacy means and how it works.

The Beginning

Surrogacy is one of the oldest medical procedures still used today. Some medical procedures have transformed over time, and surrogacy has changed in many ways. However, some surrogacies are still similar to the way it was performed in the beginning. Traditional surrogacy can still happen the way it did in the times of Abraham and Sarah, but modern medicine has also developed new procedures that make it possible to carry a child for someone else without using your own eggs or having intercourse with the intended father.

Turp et al. explore the history and practice of fertility treatments in a recent article in Gynecological Endocrinology. They note that surrogacy has been a desired childbearing option for at least the last 4,000 years. At least one marriage contract in an ancient text describes traditional surrogacy. While this reproductive option may be older than that, its occurrence in a biblical written text proves that women have often longed for motherhood and a child to call their own.

Many Christians will remember that Sarah was childless and longed for a child. She gave Hagar, her servant, to Abraham to conceive a child. When Hagar gave birth, the child was taken as Abraham and Sarah’s rather than Hagar’s, and thus began traditional surrogacy.

Surrogacy would continue in this or a similar manner for hundreds of years. For example, Native Americans also practiced surrogacy in the same way, and traditional surrogates played an important role in the Spanish royal family in the twelfth century.

Scientific Developments

From the time of Abraham and Sarah until the 1970s, not much changed. The first successful artificial insemination using donor sperm was performed in 1884 by Dr. William Pancoast at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. This procedure was not at all medically ethical and did not become a common procedure. While the husband was informed of what had occurred, the wife was kept unaware of the use of donor sperm entirely — a fact that only came to public light in 1909, when one of the students present published an account in the journal Medical World. These ethical violations would never be tolerated today. However, this procedure presented a new way for traditional surrogacy to occur without sexual intercourse between the surrogate and the biological father.

According to Dr. Mary Hinkley of the Reproductive Science Center, it would be more than forty years after this procedure before the first fertility clinic would open in the US.

There has been a need for surrogacy and fertility intervention since the beginning of time, but it was not until the early twentieth century that fertility clinics finally opened thanks to breakthroughs in medical science and reproduction.

Major Developments in Modern Medicine

Because scientists and doctors had been working for centuries to understand reproduction, they would eventually figure out how to manipulate the process for infertile couples.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) had been researched since at least the early 1930s, if not before, with few advancements. Doctors and scientists knew that this development would help more parents achieve their goals of starting families. While IVF and surrogacy are not the same things, gestational carriers would not be possible without this technology.

As gestational surrogacy continued to evolve, some major events affected traditional surrogacy. In 1976, the first legal surrogacy agreement was drafted by attorney Noel Keane. While this journey was unpaid, an agreement that included compensation was completed just a few years later.

Development of Gestational Surrogacy

Surrogacy was becoming more and more commonplace, especially because IVF and egg-donation achievements had been made. In 1978, the first baby conceived through IVF transfer — Louise Brown — was born in the UK, and in 1983, the first baby conceived with donated eggs was born in Australia. In 1985, thanks to the combination of IVF and egg donation, the first gestational journey was completed. This breakthrough created a way for women who could not carry children to still be the biological mother. At the same time that gestational surrogacy was made medically possible, the legal system was advancing to include surrogacy laws and regulations. You can learn more about how these laws have evolved in our guide on whether surrogacy is legal.

The Case that Changed the Process of Surrogacy

Just as gestational surrogacy was taking off, a traditional surrogate initiated a legal battle that would last approximately two years. This case was known as the “Baby M Case.” Mary Beth Whitehead, who gave birth to Baby M in March 1986, initially refused to give up the baby after her birth, which sparked a legal battle in the New Jersey court system. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s final decision in 1988 declared the surrogacy contract void against public policy and restored Whitehead’s parental rights — while still awarding full custody to the intended father under a “best interests of the child” analysis. The surrogate was granted visitation rights.

The “Baby M” case was critical in the history of surrogacy. This case singlehandedly changed laws surrounding surrogacy across the US and caused surrogacy specialists and intended parents to begin to prefer gestational surrogacy over traditional surrogacy to avoid these legal entanglements.

The Future of Surrogacy

The concept of surrogacy and the technology involved have been evolving rapidly over time. In 2016, a remarkable milestone was achieved when a 67-year-old grandmother gave birth to her own grandchild, making her the oldest recorded surrogate.

More recently, a groundbreaking development in sperm technology has allowed HIV-positive men to become sperm donors without transmitting the disease to their children. This breakthrough is a significant advancement in the history of surrogacy, enabling HIV-positive men with a low enough viral load to use surrogacy and their own sperm.

Throughout history, surrogacy has been a valuable tool for assisting families, and with ongoing medical advancements, it continues to enhance the prospects of couples and individuals who face medical challenges or infertility. It’s truly fascinating to envision the future possibilities as new technologies emerge, further empowering people to fulfill their dreams of parenthood.

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FAQ – History of Surrogacy

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