‘Surrogate’ Isn’t Actually The Proper Term For The Woman Who Carried Kim Kardashian’s New Baby

On Jan. 15, reality star Kim Kardashian-West and her husband rapper Kanye West welcomed their third child, a baby girl named Chicago.

Media across the world covered superstars’ big news, but many of them erroneously used the word “surrogate” to refer to the woman who carried and delivered the baby for the Kardashian-Wests.

In a blog post published on her personal website, Kardashian-West explained how many people are using the wrong terminology when discussing the latest addition to her family.

They used a gestational carrier, not a surrogate.

She wrote:

“After exploring many options, Kanye and I decided to use a gestational carrier. Although I have used the term ‘surrogate’ in the past, a gestational carrier is actually the technical term for a woman who carries a baby that she has no biological relationship to. A traditional surrogate donates her egg, is artificially inseminated with the father’s sperm, and then carries the baby to term. Since we implanted my fertilized egg in our gestational carrier, our baby is biologically mine and Kanye’s.”

So, a surrogate is actually a person who uses her own egg, whereas a gestational carrier has no familial relationship to the child.

Kardashian-West carried the couple’s two other children, North and Saint, herself. But she was not able to do so this time around due to preeclampsia and placenta accreta, serious pregnancy complications she suffered from in the past.

Kardashian-West has been honest about how difficult it was to use a gestational carrier, but she has explained that it was safest option for her and her family:

“Preeclampsia and placenta accreta are high-risk conditions, so when I wanted to have a third baby, doctors said that it wasn’t safe for my — or the baby’s — health to carry on my own,” the celeb mom wrote in her post.

Kardashian-West also was quick to point out that using a gestational carrier was not “the easy way out,” because it was heartbreaking for her to not be able to carry her own child. “It is frustrating like to not be able to do it on your own,” she said on a recent episode of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians,” adding that she attended all of her gestational carrier’s doctors appointments.

Although Kardashian-West couldn’t deliver her own child, the proud mama was the first to have skin-to-skin contact with her new baby when her gestational carrier gave birth. On her blog post, she wrote:

“The connection with our baby came instantly and it’s as if she was with us the whole time. Having a gestational carrier was so special for us and she made our dreams of expanding our family come true. We are so excited to finally welcome home our baby girl.”

Congratulations to the Kardashian-Wests on the new addition to the family!

[H/t: Pop Sugar]