- Advice and counselling
- Assisting with finding an egg donor and a surrogate to carry the baby
- Fertility screening for yourself, the egg donor, and the surrogate
- Creating an embryo using your sperm and the donor egg(s)
- IVF treatment for your surrogate, wherein the fertilised embryo is transferred to the surrogate’s uterus
- Ongoing support as the pregnancy progresses and the delivery date approaches!
We strongly urge all our single dads to pursue gestational surrogacy. This is because gestational surrogacy involves the use of a donor ova, meaning the surrogate herself shares no biological link with the child.
In addition, gestational surrogates need to have at least one living child of their own, and undergo a psychological evaluation. These requirements help ensure all parties fully understand and accept the process and risks involved.
In South Africa, surrogacy is regulated by chapter 19 of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005. Here are some of the key aspects you should be aware of:
- It is important to get special pre-approval to be able to register your newborn under your name, as South African Law doesn’t usually allow for this. This can be arranged via the use of a fertility lawyer and is important to do before the embryo transfer takes place.
- By law, at least one parent needs to be biologically related to the child – in this case, you!
- In order to comply with the Children’s Act, all parties involved in the surrogacy arrangement need to conclude a written agreement – confirmed by the High Court and made into an official Order of the Court – before the embryo transfer takes place.
- Surrogates may not receive any compensation or financial incentive to act as surrogates for the commissioning father over and above loss of income, medical expenses, etc.
- You and the surrogate both need to be living in South Africa.
- If the surrogate is married or in a permanent relationship, her partner should be in agreement with her acting as your surrogate.
WHY SINGLE DADS CHOOSE WIJNLAND’S FERTILITY SERVICES
We at Wijnland are firm believers that anyone who wants to embark on the journey to parenthood should have the opportunity to do so, including single men who are ready to become fathers.
Aside from our world leading fertility clinic and laboratory facilities, we are lucky enough to have some of the industry’s best embryologists, fertility doctors and nurses on our staff.
We also make the mental health and wellbeing of all our patients a priority – we understand that making these kinds of lifealtering decisions can be a bit of emotional rollercoaster!
Our onsite ova bank and strong relationships with South Africa’s leading surrogacy agencies means we can assist you with every step of the process – from obtaining legal counsel and finding a surrogate to carry your child, to performing the IVF procedure for your egg donor, and finally the embryo transfer into the surrogate’s womb.
Here is some further detail on each step of the process of becoming a father as a single man through Wijnland
You will be asked to provide a semen sample so our dedicated andrology lab can assess your fertility status and brief you on any relevant findings. They can also assist with sperm freezing if you wish to pursue fatherhood at a later stage, or with preparation of the sperm for the IVF procedure with the donated egg cells.
Remember that even if you present with a low sperm count, our access to advanced fertility techniques such as IMSI (Intracytoplasmic Morphologically-selected Sperm Injection) mean you still stand an excellent chance of becoming a father!
We will help guide you through the process of selecting an ova donor. Depending on your circumstances, and how far along in the legal process you are, either fresh or frozen donated embryos can be used.
We will also reach out on your behalf to surrogacy agencies to help you find a gestational carrier. From time to time, Wijnland already has potential surrogates lined up who wish to help others start their families and have volunteered to assist.
In the case of an egg donor, Wijnland conducts fertility screening, counselling and finally egg retrieval, working closely with both you and the ova donor.
At this point, the process takes the same course as working with frozen eggs. The retrieved egg cells are fertilised in vitro, and the resulting embryos frozen until it’s time for them to meet their wonderful surrogate!
It’s important to remember that not every round of IVF will be successful, and it may take a few attempts before a viable embryo(s) is created. We also have advanced treatments available, including ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection) and IMSI (Intracytoplasmic Morphologically-selected Sperm Injection), which we can try if need be. These can be particularly useful for older intended single dads and egg donors.
Aside from the actual birth, the embryo transfer is one of the most exciting steps on the surrogacy journey! Prior to the transfer, we will provide any necessary fertility treatments to the surrogate, and confirm with you at once when she falls pregnant. We can also assist with her prenatal care and monitoring of the developing foetus.