Surrogacy goes more mainstream

More Americans are turning to surrogacy to build their families, as the practice becomes more common and more publicly discussed.

Why it matters: As surrogacy becomes more visible and accessible, ethical, legal and cultural tensions become harder to ignore.

How it works: A surrogate carries a pregnancy for intended parents — typically via IVF with an embryo that uses a donor or the intended mother's egg.

• That's called gestational surrogacy, and the surrogate can be referred to as the gestational carrier. (When a surrogate uses her own egg, that's called traditional or genetic surrogacy.)

It's an option for people who want biological kids but can't — or can't safely — carry a pregnancy.

• It's "not something I would recommend for somebody who doesn't have a medical indication or a reason to do it," says Laura Meyer, reproductive endocrinologist at Illume Fertility.

By the numbers: U.S. clinics reported more than 11,500 gestational carrier cycles in 2023 — nearly seven times as many as were done in 2004, when the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) began tracking the data...