Surrogacy Acronyms – Abbreviations, Terms, and Definitions of Surrogate Motherhood

Surrogacy acronyms, and terms are important to understand for anyone even remotely interested in surrogacy. Because, let me tell you, this community speaks a completely different language! (It’s sort of like twin language – only those of us in the community are privy to our secrets 😉

So, my friends, it’s time to learn the various surrogacy terms. Use this guide to help you understand what it all means.

Definition of Surrogacy Terms

What is Surrogacy?
The definition of surrogacy is the act of one woman carrying a child that belongs to someone else.

When the baby is born, the woman carrying the baby will not parent the child; the intended parents who contracted the surrogacy arrangement will be the legal parent of the child.

NOTE: This is really important to keep in mind when it comes to IVF for a lesbian couple. I often get questions asking if one partner can be a surrogate for the other partner. The answer is NO. If you are carrying a baby that you are planning to parent, you are NOT a surrogate – you’re just getting really creative with becoming a mother. It’s awesome, but it is in no way surrogacy.

Surrogate Mother or Surrogate Carrier
These mean the same thing. Basically, a surrogate mother or surrogate carrier is the woman who carries the child for someone else. This woman is not the mother of the child.

NOTE: Usually when the generic term “surrogate” is used, it refers to a gestational surrogate, not a traditional surrogate.

Gestational Surrogate Mother or Gestational Carrier
A woman who goes through IVF to become pregnant as a surrogate mother. The baby or babies she carries have no biological link to her whatsoever.

Traditional Surrogate Mother or Traditional Carrier
A woman who goes through artificial insemination to become pregnant as a surrogate mother. The baby or babies she carries are biologically her own children. She will sign over the legal rights to these children at birth.

Egg Donor
The woman who, in some surrogacy arrangements, donates her eggs or ovum to the process. A woman does not need to be involved in surrogacy to be termed an egg donor.

Intended Parents
The parents of the baby or babies carried by the surrogate mother. These are the parents the surrogacy is intended for. At least one of the intended parents are most likely biologically related to the surrogate babies.

Intended Mother
The mother of the baby the surrogate is carrying. She may or may not be a biological relative of the child.

Intended Father
The father of the baby the surrogate is carrying. He may or may not be a biological relative of the child.

Intended Fathers
When plural, intended fathers usually refers to a set of intended parents that are gay. Thus, there are two intended fathers instead of just one.

Main Surrogacy Acronyms

The following surrogacy acronyms are terms directly related to surrogacy. There are many other acronyms that are used on message boards and in blogs, but this first list goes over the common industry specific ones.

SM
Surrogate Mother

GS
Gestational Surrogate Mother or Gestational Carrier

TS
Traditional Surrogate Mother or Traditional Carrier

ED
Egg Donor

IP or IPs
Intended Parent(s)

IM
Intended Mother

IF
Intended Father

IFs
Intended Fathers

Other Common Surrogacy Acronyms

2WW
The Two Week Wait
This is the time after a transfer that the surrogate and intended parents wait before finding out if the transfer was successful. (Hint: it’s not always 2 weeks….sometimes is closer to 10 days)

AI
Artificial Insemination

BCP
Birth Control Pills

BFN
Big Fat Negative

BFP
Big Fat Positive

CD
Cycle Day

D&C
Dilation & Curettage

ET
Embryo Transfer

FET
Frozen Embryo Transfer

HPT
Home Pregnancy Test

IVF
In Vitro Fertilization

PG
Pregnant

PIO
Progesterone in Oil