Twins Through Surrogacy?

by Noah
(Florida)

Is it possible to have fraternal twins with two different fathers? My gay partner and I would both like a boy each but want them to have the same mother. This isn't about the cost at all, it's just our potential surrogate doesn't want to do this twice. We would like to do this through traditional surrogacy, however I'm not sure if twins are possible this way. In IFV multiple eggs are put back into the uterus with the rationale that not all will implant, but sometimes they do. Would it then be possible to put two eggs back into the uterus that have two different fathers? Maybe insert our surrogate with two of her own eggs so we could each have a boy and also only go through one pregnancy? Thanks for all your help!

Reply by Rayven
While it is possible to have one surrogate carry twins for a set of intended fathers with one twin being fathered by one man, and the other being fathered by the other man, there is no possible way to make that guaranteed.

This situation HAS happened before with gestational surrogacy. Really, its remarkable that we've come to a point in science where we are capable of doing it!

But there are no promises. Yes, you can transfer one embryo created by one father's sperm and a second embryo created by the other father's sperm, but that doesn't mean that both, or even one, will take. You could end up with just one baby, no babies, or even identical twins if one embryo splits and the other does not take. Its all chance.

And if you'd like to take it a step further and go through gender selection technology prior to the creation of the embryos, that is possible too, though again, not guaranteed.

But this is all with gestational surrogacy (IVF). With traditional surrogacy getting twins in the first place is rare, unless you use fertility drugs, and then you might end up with a whole lot more than twins! Also, with traditional surrogacy, there would be absolutely no way to go through any gender selection.

As to your surrogate only being willing to go through one journey with you, I think its wonderful that you have the foresight to be thinking about a second journey to complete your family before you start your first. My first set of intended parents did the same thing, and we knew before beginning our first journey that we would be completing a second as well.