Biomaterial Database

A surrogate carries a fertilised ovum: multiple crossings in ego boundaries. 1995

E P Lester

Recent advances in reproductive technologies have created situations in which early psychoanalytic thinking with regard to the procreative wish, infertility, and the significance of pregnancy in mothering, calls for reconsideration. The paper addresses briefly issues related to psychological infertility; it focuses specifically on possible psychological implications during full surrogacy, as this procedure is now practised in many fertility clinics in North America. The analysis of a young woman whose infertility was related to her exposure, during intra-uterinary life, to her mother's hormonal treatment (DES), presented us with the opportunity to observe the many psychological issues developing during in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and other similar procedures and, ultimately, to address the far more complex interpersonal states evolving between the biological (genetic) mother and the surrogate during full surrogacy. Analytic material provides the opportunity to discuss, specifically, questions of boundaries and boundary confusion in the relationship between the surrogate (who carried the couple's fertilised ovum to the birth of a healthy child) and the genetic mother.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007231	Infant, Newborn	An infant during the first 28 days after birth.	Neonate,Newborns,Infants, Newborn,Neonates,Newborn,Newborn Infant,Newborn Infants
D007247	Infertility, Female	Diminished or absent ability of a female to achieve conception.	Sterility, Female,Sterility, Postpartum,Sub-Fertility, Female,Subfertility, Female,Female Infertility,Female Sterility,Female Sub-Fertility,Female Subfertility,Postpartum Sterility,Sub Fertility, Female
D009034	Mother-Child Relations	Interaction between a mother and child.	Mother-Child Interaction,Mother-Child Relationship,Mother-Infant Interaction,Mother-Infant Relations,Interaction, Mother-Child,Interaction, Mother-Infant,Interactions, Mother-Child,Interactions, Mother-Infant,Mother Child Interaction,Mother Child Relations,Mother Child Relationship,Mother Infant Interaction,Mother Infant Relations,Mother-Child Interactions,Mother-Child Relation,Mother-Child Relationships,Mother-Infant Interactions,Mother-Infant Relation,Relation, Mother-Child,Relation, Mother-Infant,Relations, Mother-Child,Relations, Mother-Infant,Relationship, Mother-Child,Relationships, Mother-Child
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011573	Psychoanalytic Interpretation	Utilization of Freudian theories to explain various psychologic aspects of art, literature, biographical material, etc.	Interpretation, Psychoanalytic,Psychoanalytical Interpretation,Interpretation, Psychoanalytical,Interpretations, Psychoanalytic,Interpretations, Psychoanalytical,Psychoanalytic Interpretations,Psychoanalytical Interpretations
D011575	Psychoanalytic Therapy	A form of psychiatric treatment, based on Freudian principles, which seeks to eliminate or diminish the undesirable effects of unconscious conflicts by making the patient aware of their existence, origin, and inappropriate expression in current emotions and behavior.	Balint Psychoanalytic Therapy,Psychoanalytic Therapy, Balint,Psychoanalytical Therapy,Therapy, Balint Psychoanalytic,Therapy, Psychoanalytic,Psychoanalytic Therapies,Psychoanalytical Therapies,Therapies, Psychoanalytic,Therapies, Psychoanalytical,Therapy, Psychoanalytical
D004532	Ego	The conscious portion of the personality structure which serves to mediate between the demands of the primitive instinctual drives, (the id), of internalized parental and social prohibitions or the conscience, (the superego), and of reality.	Self,Egos
D005260	Female		Females
D005307	Fertilization in Vitro	An assisted reproductive technique that includes the direct handling and manipulation of oocytes and sperm to achieve fertilization in vitro.	Test-Tube Fertilization,Fertilizations in Vitro,In Vitro Fertilization,Test-Tube Babies,Babies, Test-Tube,Baby, Test-Tube,Fertilization, Test-Tube,Fertilizations, Test-Tube,In Vitro Fertilizations,Test Tube Babies,Test Tube Fertilization,Test-Tube Baby,Test-Tube Fertilizations
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man