Does a baby look like the biological mum and the surrogate?

Question

Accepted Answer

Is a baby born through gestational surrogacy likely to look like the biological mum and the surrogates? The answer depends on how the surrogate is genetically related to the intended parents. In gestational surrogacy, the embryo is created with the egg of one of the intended parents, fertilized in a laboratory, and transferred to the surrogate’s womb. Although the seed shares the same DNA as its biological parents, the baby may not look like the intended parents.

The biological parents’ genetic makeup determines the child’s external characteristics, such as eye color, face shape, hairline, and predispositions to specific traits. Therefore, the child will look half as much as their biological mum as she does like her birth parents. However, genetic similarities are difficult to establish in a surrogate. The child will be 50% like the biological mum and 50% like its biological father.

Both the biological mum and the surrogate are genetically related to the baby. While a birth mother’s blood type is usually the same as her child’s, the surrogate’s may not. It’s important to understand that a surrogate’s blood type may differ from the biological mum’s. This is why a biological mum and surrogate are genetically identical, but it doesn’t mean they are.