IVF, Gamete/Embryo Donation, and Surrogacy: The Family-Building Basics

With the rise of modern assisted reproduction technology, people can now plan their families more proactively and intentionally. The technology also creates important legal questions about consent, parentage, and what happens to reproductive material when circumstances change.

The Building Blocks: Gametes and Embryos

A ‘gamete’ is a single egg or sperm. When they have joined, the combined result is called an ‘embryo’. These are the basic elements involved in creating a baby.

In Canada, people can donate their gametes. For people with uteruses, donation involves a very long, planned, and usually painful medical procedure to extract the eggs. For people with testes, sperm donation is usually less medically invasive, although that may not always be the case.

In Canada, people can also donate embryos. Donation usually occurs after an IVF treatment resulted in more embryos than the intended parents required.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

In Virto Fertilization or ‘IVF’ is a medical process where the egg and sperm are combined in an artificial setting outside of the uterus. Once the embryo has formed, it is then placed into a uterus to implant and grow. It sounds simple, but substantial planning, medication, monitoring and precise timing are required for all of this to work properly – and importantly, pregnancy is not guaranteed.

Sometimes, IVF is used with the egg and sperm of the intended parents; other times it is used with a donated gamete or a donated embryo.

Sometimes, IVF is used with the intended parents’ gametes but is placed into a surrogate uterus.

Surrogacy

A ‘Surrogate’ carries a pregnancy for the intended parent(s). Sometimes, the Surrogate is biologically related to one of the intended parent(s), sometimes they are a friend, and sometimes they are a volunteer without any prior relationship to the intended parent(s).

Donation, IVF and Surrogacy frequently overlap. Fertility law rarely travels in a straight line. For example, the Surrogate may also be the egg donor to the embryo they are carrying. The Surrogate may have also undergone IVF treatment to have the egg fertilized by either the intended father or a sperm donor before implantation. The legal consequences differ depending on how the conception occurs.

Planning Ahead

IVF, gamete donation, embryo donation, and surrogacy can open doors to parenthood that once seemed closed. They can also create legal questions involving consent, compensation, parentage, privacy, stored reproductive material, and changing intentions. The process may begin with eggs, sperm, or an embryo, but successful planning requires more than biology. It requires clear communication, carefully prepared agreements, and attention to what may happen long after the clinic appointment is over. That is assisted reproduction in a nutshell – no pun intended.