Child Development & Surrogacy: Initial Steps, Milestones & How To Help Development From Infancy to 2 Years Old
If you are someone who has been struggling with infertility, then you may have given up the dream of having children of your own.
That doesn’t need to be the case.
You can find a surrogate and undergo in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, to grow biological children within a surrogate mother. Surrogacy in California is an effective method for parents struggling with infertility to have children of their very own.
This article will discuss how your child from a surrogate mother grows and develops over time.
Initial Steps
First, you have to find a surrogate mother to carry your baby.
One reason why women may be struggling with infertility is due to tubal factor infertility. If you have tubal factor infertility, it means that your uterus is blocked and unable to move an ovum into the womb. A surrogate mother can alleviate this form of infertility and many others through the help of a fertility clinic.
At the fertility clinic, you’ll undergo in-vitro fertilization to remove your eggs and partner’s sperm. The resulting fertilized embryo is placed in the surrogate where it grows until birth.
Upon birth, your baby starts to grow and develop.
Fortunately, if you are struggling with infertility, gestational surrogacy and in-vitro fertilization made it possible to have a baby that is biologically yours. Yet just because they were conceived through IVF and grown inside of a surrogate doesn’t mean that they’ll develop any differently from any other baby. Here’s what you can expect for your child’s development.
Child Development
After your surrogate mother gives birth to your baby, the first few years of their life are crucial.
It’s during this time that they learn the basic lessons of life and most brain development takes place. Some intended parents may worry that because they chose to find a surrogate that their baby might need additional help in their development. This belief may be due to the fact that they were not raising the baby, themselves, in the womb. This isn’t the case.
It’s up to the intended parents to encourage child development.
Development Milestones: Infancy
It’s common for your baby to lose around 5%-10% of their baby weight after birth. It’s around the second week that they start to gain weight again. So, if you’re concerned about the weight of your baby, wait until that second-week mark to truly judge whether there’s a problem or not.
Knowing what nutrients your baby needs can be difficult.
An infant needs more calories than they will when they’re a toddler or child. Because each child follows their own individual growth curve, it can be hard to know whether they’re growing well. Be mindful of how much fat they have. Healthy eating habits should always be practiced. This can help prevent child diabetes from occurring.
At four months, your baby shouldn’t be drooping their head anymore. When sat down on the ground, they should be able to sit up straight. They should also be able to roll from their front to their back.
In terms of grip strength, they should be able to hold an object as well as let it go. They can place objects in their mouth and typically sleep nine to ten hours.
In terms of their sensory capabilities, infants should be able to maintain better eye contact with their parents.
The beginning stages of hand-eye coordination should also be under development. The noises that they should be able to make are cooing sounds, laughing, and fussing. You can typically tell if their memory is starting to form if they are able to anticipate feeding. The strength of their mental development can also be determined by their ability to recognize their parents’ voices and touch.
How To Help Development: Infancy
To encourage your child’s development in their infant years, you can do so through play.
Sometimes all you need to do is place them in front of a mirror. They can see themselves and start to learn and recognize aspects of themselves. Because infants are attracted to bright colors, you can give them bright-colored toys to play with and hold. This can help build their strength and make them more tactile in their learning.
To help them learn how to roll and gain strength in rolling, you can first assist them.
Show them how to move their muscles in order to move from the front to back and praise them when they’re successful. Muscle development can further be aided by the use of an infant swing. Provided that their head has stopped drooping, you can safely use the swing to encourage them to use their body to move the swing.
In terms of learning sounds, you can help their development by reading to them. Books can introduce shapes and concepts to infants. It also helps with their learning and communication skills. You can also repeat sounds that the infant makes to encourage communication and vocabulary.
Finally, to strengthen their ability to recognize your touch, you can play with them on your tummy. Skin-to-skin contact can help promote the bond between you and allow your baby to have fun whilst connecting with their parents.
Development Milestones: 1-Year-Old
After their first birthday, your baby should be around three times their birth weight. Their head circumference should be about the same as the circumference as their chest.
By this time, they should have one to eight teeth. In terms of balance, your baby should be able to stand on their own without holding onto anything. They can either walk alone or holding onto someone or something with one hand. They can also sit down without assistance.
Their fine motor skills should allow them to hit toys together, turn pages of a book by gripping many pages at a time, and pick toys up with their thumb and index finger.
In terms of sleeping, they should still be taking one to two naps a day and sleep eight to ten hours a night.
For their sensory and mental development, a one-year-old can say Mama or Papa and perhaps a few other words. They are also able to start performing pretend play. They respond to their name and when given simple commands, they are able to follow them. They know animal sounds and can imitate them.
One big milestone is that they are able to understand that an object exists even after it is out of their view. This displays a strengthening memory.
They can point, wave goodbye, and lift their arms above their head when getting dressed.
Attachments start to form, such as an attachment to a toy or to a parent. In fact, you may notice separation anxiety occurs when the baby is separated from their parents.
How To Help Development: 1 Year Old
Adding in more picture books can be a great way to teach your child numerous concepts.
They can learn animal sounds and shapes, learn the names of certain objects, and can improve overall memory and cognition. It’s also a good idea to bring your child to new places in order to be stimulated.
One of the best ways to help your baby’s memory is to sing songs! Get your singing voice ready, no need to be shy with your baby, they will love it!
Development Milestones: 2 Years Old
It’s been some time since you took the time to find a surrogate and undergo in-vitro fertilization at a fertility clinic to have your baby.
Clearly, once the baby has reached two years old, you should be satisfied in knowing that IVF and surrogacy haven’t impacted your baby any more than it would have been if the baby had grown in the intended mother’s belly. Surrogacy in California may have made having a baby possible, but it’s your parenting skills that will help the baby develop further.
At two years old, your baby is able to turn knobs on doors. Their motor functions have become more defined. This allows them to turn pages of a book one at a time instead of lumping them all together. Their coordination and balance have improved to the point where they are able to kick objects and pick items up without falling over.
Some two-year-olds are even able to start toilet training at this age. Your parenting skills will be put to the test when it comes to toilet training. The couples you’ve met through surrogacy may be able to offer some help and advice for potty training.
Made in the USA Surrogacy and our staff encourages all new parents to try incentivizing your children with positive motivation. It will go far while potty training, and you may be surprised at the ease of rewarding their great efforts with something as simple as a Jelly Belly!
By going through the process of IVF at a fertility clinic with a surrogate, you forge a close bond with them in the womb, but the bond with your surrogate can allow you to share tips and advice with each other to make parenting just that much easier.
How To Help Development: 2 Years Old
To further encourage development, you can play certain games with them. Instead of allowing them to watch TV, you should entertain them with books and play. You can even include them in daily household chores.
This develops their fitness while also teaching them about responsibility and cleanliness. Finally, introduce play that requires creativity and building.
If you’re an intended parent looking for a surrogate, we would love to help you! Please fill out our form to get started!
