Repropedia

A Reproductive Lexicon

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third-party reproduction

Third-party reproduction refers to the use of donor eggs, sperm, embryos, or the use of a surrogate mother or gestational carrier to allow an infertile person or couple to become parents. Donor eggs and sperm can be used in assisted reproductive technology procedures such as in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination to produce an embryo(s). Donor embryos or embryos derived from the biological parents can then be placed in the uterus of the future mother or gestational carrier. The third party’s involvement is typically limited to the reproductive process and does not extend to parenthood.