eli5: Why does blood type not matter when choosing a surrogate mother?

Question

Organ transplants require that the donor have a blood type that is compatible with the recipient.

Why is that not a requirement when you are actually growing the organs themselves during a surrogate pregnancy?

Thanks in advance!

In: Biology

Answer 1

Actually, it does. Whether a surrogacy or natural pregnancy, if the mother’s blood type is negative and the baby’s blood type is positive, there can be an immune response against it, especially in a second pregnancy. There’s a medication available to take that prevents the immune response, though.