Pregnancy experiences and maternal-foetal attachment of surrogate, intended and expectant mothers.

Abstract

Although surrogacy is an unnatural and impractical method of motherhood, society's attitude towards infertility has made it inevitable. Due to this, the number of surrogacy and the number of children born through this process is increasing day by day. The aim of the present study was to examine the pregnancy experiences of surrogate, intended and expectant mothers, the nature of their maternal attachment to the unborn baby and to compare their pregnancy experience and maternal fetal attachment. A further aim was to assess the pregnancy experiences of surrogate and intended mothers.
For this research 27 surrogate mothers and 23 intended mothers were selected with the help of surrogacy center located in Pune city Maharashtra. In addition, 43 expectant mothers were selected from the public hospital/s located in Pathardi tehsil Ahmednagar (Maharashtra). Data was collected from surrogate, intended and expectant mothers during months 5–9 of pregnancy by administering psychological tests. Standardized psychometric tests like DiPietro’s pregnancy experience scale (2008) and Cranley’s maternal fetal attachment scale (1981) were administered on surrogate and expectant mothers for data collection. In addition, different questionnaires were designed and filled out by surrogate and intended mothers to assess their pregnancy experiences. For the data analysis and interpretation, descriptive statistics like mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics liket test were utilised.
The research revealed that the eexpectant mothers perceived their pregnancies to be significantly more intensely and frequently uplifting than hassling. While, surrogates perceived their pregnancies to be significantly more intensely and frequently hassling than uplifting. Overall, in terms of pregnancy experiences, expectant mothers perceived their pregnancy with significantly greater intensity and more often as happy, positive, and uplift as compared to unhappy, negative, and upset emotional state. With respect to bonding with the unborn baby, surrogates experienced lower levels of emotional bonding (e.g., they interacted less, and wondered less about the foetus), but exhibited higher levels of instrumental bonding (e.g., they adopted better eating habits and avoided unhealthy practices during pregnancy), than women who were carrying their own babies. Contrary to concerns, greater bonding with the unborn baby was associated with uplifting pregnancy experiences, and not hassling pregnancy experiences. The qualitative findings on the experiences of intended mothers show that they were very happy after the embryo was implanted in the surrogate mother's womb. They didn't keep intended motherhood a secret, didn't regret not having children, didn't worry about not getting natural motherhood. The lineage continuity and the happiness of motherhood were the main motives behind surrogacy.These findings have important implications for policy and practice making in surrogacy arrangement in the Globe.