Kim Kardashian's surrogate pregnancy could help shine a light on surrogacy as a whole

Article updated 29th September 2017

Kim Kardashian has finally confirmed that her and husband Kanye West are pregnant via a surrogate.

Sharing a teaser for the 14th season of ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ the reality TV star seemingly confirms the hire of a surrogate.

For months rumours have been swirling that Kim had hired a surrogate who is pregnant with her baby and allegedly due in January.

This will be a third child for Kim and Kanye who already have Saint, aged one, and North, aged four.

At the very end of the teaser clip, Kim is shown FaceTiming her sister Khloe as she queries: “What happens every time I say ‘guess what?'”

The 33-year-old younger sibling replies: “You’re either pregnant or a person is pregnant.”

Then Kim happily declares: ‘We’re having a baby!’

Kim Kardashian has been pretty open about her fertility struggles and her desire to grow her family.

But after high-risk pregnancies with both North and Saint, it was looking as if carrying another baby herself wouldn’t be possible for the reality TV star.

So Kim had discussed the possibility of surrogacy but, as reported by Us Weekly earlier this year, the surrogate is already months into her pregnancy with a baby (or babies if some reports are to be believed – well if Beyonce can do twins!) due to arrive in January 2018.

The couple allegedly went through an agency, where they found the woman who would carry their third (or maybe even third and fourth) child.

The surrogate is reported to be a mum herself and has possibly served as a surrogate before.

Kim has reportedly turned to surrogacy to expand her family due to her struggle with preeclampsia and placenta accreta during both her previous pregnancies.

According to the NHS placenta accreta is a life-threatening condition where the placenta grows into the muscle of the uterus, making separation at the time of birth difficult.

“Placenta accreta causes bleeding when an attempt is made to remove your placenta,” the site explains. “The bleeding may be severe and you may require a hysterectomy (removal of the womb) to stop the bleeding.”

Describing her previous experiences of the condition on her website, Kim said: “My doctor had to stick his entire arm in me and detach the placenta with his hand, scraping it away from my uterus with his fingernails.”

“My mum was crying; she had never seen anything like this before. My delivery was fairly easy, but then going through that — it was the most painful experience of my life!”

After having Saint, now one, Kim revealed during an during an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians that she was considering surrogacy as a way of expanding her brood after her doctors advised against a third pregnancy.

“I feel like surrogacy is the only option for me,” she said. “Kanye and I are going to look into other options and see what we are comfortable with…but I’m definitely leaning towards [surrogacy]. I always knew surrogacy was an option — now it’s my reality. Whatever is meant to be will be.”

Kim certainly isn’t the only celebrity to use a surrogate. Sarah Jessica Parker, 50, had twins via a surrogate in 2009, conceived with her frozen eggs and her husband’s sperm, Elton John, 68, and his husband David Furnish, 52, have two sons via a surrogate and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has just welcomed twins via a surrogate.

It’s not just celebrities for whom surrogacy is becoming an option. Figures from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) show that record numbers of UK babies are being born to surrogate parents – 167 in 2014, up from 47 in 2007.

But surrogacy laws in the UK are slightly different to those of the US. According to a TMZ report Kim and Kanye have agreed to pay their surrogate $45,000 in 10 monthly instalments of $4,500. In the UK, however commercial surrogacy is illegal which means the surrogate must not have received anything other than expenses which can range from £8,000 to £15,000.

It is also illegal in the UK to advertise for a surrogate, or to advertise to be a surrogate and for a third party to be involved on a commercial basis – that is, receive fees for ‘brokering’ a surrogacy relationship.

At this stage it isn’t known what surrogacy route the Wests’ may have taken, but there are two different types of surrogacy; straight and host.

According to Surrogacy UK: “Straight surrogacy is the simplest and least expensive form of surrogacy and is also known as artificial insemination. The surrogate uses an insemination kit to become pregnant using the intended father’s semen. The baby will therefore be conceived using the surrogate’s egg.”

The same site describes Host (or gestational) surrogacy as being: “when IVF is used, either with the eggs of the intended mother, or with donor eggs. The surrogate therefore does not use her own eggs, and is genetically unrelated to the baby.”

Confirmation of Kim and Kanye’s surrogacy baby news, alongside Kim’s willingness to openly discuss surrogacy can only continue to raise awareness about the method that is becoming a very real option for some families struggling with fertility issues.

And like a potential new mini Kardashian-West that should be celebrated.

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