Surrogacy increases the risk of serious pregnancy

By Sandy Verma On Sep 27, 2024

KINGSTON: According to new research, individuals who are gestational carriers (also called “surrogates”) may be more vulnerable to serious complications during pregnancy and the postpartum period, including high blood pressure during pregnancy and postpartum hemorrhage, compared to those who are not. In those who conceive naturally or through IVF. New research from ICES and Queen's University. People who are not able to conceive otherwise are helped to become pregnant by gestational carriers, who also carry their own offspring. Give birth. It is unclear whether there is a greater potential for serious health outcomes for newborns and gestational carriers during pregnancy and after delivery.

One of the first significant population-based studies to compare health outcomes for three different methods of conceiving – unassisted, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and gestational carrier – has examined linked health databases.

“This study highlights the increased use of gestational carriers around the world and the increased risk of pregnancy for gestational carriers and offspring,” says lead author Dr. Maria Velez, an assistant scientist at ICES and associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Queen's University at the time of the study. This was due to the lack of information about the impact of this reproductive method on the outcomes.” Velez is currently an Associate Professor and Physician Scientist at McGill University and the Research Institute of McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC).

The study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, included 863,017 singleton births at more than 20 weeks' gestation in Ontario, Canada, between 2012 and 2021. In the groups, 846,124 (97.6%) were conceived without assistance, 16,087 (1.8%) were conceived by IVF, and 806 (0.1%) were conceived using gestational carriers.