People who want to become parents but cannot become pregnant or carry a child on their own can have another woman carry the child. This requires a donation of sperm and eggs, and the woman who carries the child is called a surrogate or host mother.
Researchers in Canada, where surrogacy is permitted, have compared surrogacy pregnancies with other pregnancies.
Three times higher risk
According to the results, women who became pregnant through surrogacy had three times the risk of serious complications such as severe bleeding, blood clots, and preeclampsia, compared to those who became pregnant without assistance. Compared to women who became pregnant through IVF, the risk was almost twice as high.
We know that egg donation is associated with an increased risk of, for example, high blood pressure and bleeding, even when it's not about surrogacy. This is explained by the fact that foreign genes come in from both eggs and sperm. In that way, the result is not so surprising, says Olof Stephansson, professor and obstetrician at Karolinska University Hospital.
The researchers saw no increased risks for the children born after surrogacy. However, there was a slightly increased risk that the child would be born prematurely, before week 37, which in itself can involve risks for the child.
All pregnancies a risk
In Sweden, there is no legal ban on surrogacy, but since it is not regulated, it is not possible to receive help at a clinic. People who wish for such help often turn abroad.
Olof Stephansson thinks the new study provides good knowledge.
It's good to be aware of these risks, even if they are rare. Then you should remember that all pregnancies involve an increased risk of many things compared to not being pregnant.
Even pregnancies that occur through IVF with the woman's own eggs involve an increased risk of complications compared to others. This is explained by the fact that women who undergo IVF are often older, have a disease, or have difficulty becoming pregnant on their own. It is therefore not the IVF itself that gives the increased risk, but the woman's circumstances.
In total, around 800 surrogacy pregnancies, 16,000 IVF pregnancies, and 850,000 non-assisted pregnancies were studied.
The pregnancies took place between 2012 and 2021.
The study has been published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
