Surrogate mothers who are emotionally, physically and psychologically prepared for the embryo transfer, have a better chance to carry a successful pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby. Pre operative care should ensure that all the right steps have been taken and that the surrogate mother is medically fit in all respects to go through with the implantation of the embryos. The importance of a proper preparation of the surrogate mother can hardly be over emphasised. Let us elaborate on this a little:

• Preoperative care is extremely important before any invasive medical procedure whether it is a major or a minor surgery. Surrogacy is a major operation causing a considerable strain on the body and the mind of the surrogate mother.

• It should always be considered that surrogate mothers devote their time, effort and lend their body in for financial reimbursement. The baby with whom she may have developed an emotional attachment will be parted from her forever. This can be a mental challenge no matter how hard-core and professional a surrogate mother might be.

• Preoperative care would also include the selection of the right egg donor. The initial effort taken in this area would have an impact on the health of the surrogate mother and the outcome of the pregnancy.
  

• Personalized care is a significant factor to make the surrogate mother physically and mentally comfortable.
  

• Physical preparation will include an analysis of the medical and physical examination which would include her response to anaesthetics.
  

• The examination will include her complete blood profile.

What May go Wrong?

A lack of preoperative care could be disastrous for the pregnancy. It could harm the health of the surrogate mother and result in a bad delivery and even a miscarriage if the circumstances are extremely unfortunate. It will most certainly disappoint and upset the intended parents. A bad preoperative care could include the following mistakes:

• The selected egg donor carries a disease that could affect the embryo and the health of the surrogate mother and the baby.

• The selected egg donor might carry a genetic disorder that could be transferred to the embryo through the surrogate mother if pre operative care is not performed properly.
  

• Donor sperms might have defects and a PGD would amount to a proper preoperative care in the absence of which the entire procedure might be futile. More importantly, the surrogate mother’s life could be in a precarious condition.
  

• If the resourcefulness of the surrogacy clinic, the general health and hygienic standard, quality of the service by supporting staff and preparation of the surrogate mother does not meet the satisfactory norms the result of the surrogacy program may be dissatisfying.
  

• Proper medication and food supplied to the surrogate mother constitutes a significant part of achieving and going through a healthy pregnancy and a safe delivery. Lack of any of them could be a threat to the surrogate mother’s health as well as the baby.
  

• Prior to implantation, the surrogate mother needs to undergo countless medical tests. Tests conducted by poor quality pathological laboratories could show misleading results and lead to a unsuccessful surrogacy program.
  

• A flaw in synchronization of the menstrual cycle between the egg donor and surrogate mother will lead to a failure in surrogacy service.

Post Operative Care in Surrogacy

Post operative care is as important as the preoperative care. From this point of time, the embryo develops and life is gradually infused into the fetus as the pregnancy advances. Typical post operative care pitfalls could be:

• Unhygienic environment inside the clinic, leading to an unhealthy pregnancy and poor child delivery.

• Poor nutrition and negligence in medication could turn out harmful to the pregnancy.
  

• Lack of support by nurses and attendants, lack of instructions regarding post operative exercises could lead to delivery issues.
  

• Lack of mental counselling after the surgery could lead to psychological problems for the surrogate mother.