What is a surrogate in reproductive technology?

• A. A woman who carries her own baby
• B. A woman who gestates a fetus for another
• C. A woman who donates eggs
• D. A woman who adopts a child

Answer: (B)

In surrogacy, a surrogate is someone who carries a fetus for another person or couple, gestating the pregnancy on their behalf. This captures the essential role: the woman is pregnancy for someone else, not for herself. That’s why the description of a person who gestates a fetus for another fits best. The other scenarios describe different roles—carrying one’s own baby is a normal pregnancy, donating eggs is providing gametes, and adoption is taking a child into a family after birth.