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Can Syphilis Be Passed On From The Surrogate Mother To The Fetus?

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Posted on Tue, 14 Nov 2017
Question: Hi! I really need some help. I could not have children myself so had to get a surrogate mother.
My SM finally fell pregnant. We got told then that we were expecting twins!
The SM obviously had all her screening done before and was fit and healthy.
They did more testing at week 11 and discovered that she had Syphilis! It seems it was not pivked up by the previous tests. They started medication, she had Bicilin5 together with lidocain Injection then and again got treated in week 25. She is now in week 29. They just sent me latest blood results and say that tpha results is much better, 1:160 (previously 1:320) but the RPR is still exactly the same 1:2.
They are talking about getting more opinions and doing an early c-cection as early as week 34. Any advice please!! How do I know the bacteria hasn't passed to the babies already?? They have regular scans and can't see anything wrong with fetuses. They weigh 1.3kg's each. Really worried!!!
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Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
A VDRL can be done

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone carefully through your query and understand your concerns. It is a bit unusual that RPR would be positive even after treatment. It therefore has to be followed up by a quantitative nontreponemal test like VDRL.

The CDC guidelines need to be followed:
https://www.cyyy.yyy/yyy/yy2015/yyyyyyyy-yyyyyyyy.htm

It is not the risk of passing the bacteria to the baby that concerns us. It is the ill effects that concern us. The very fact that regular fetal scans are fine, is reassuring and you need not worry further. Tests like chorionic villus sampling can be done but such tests have their own risks and better be avoided.

In case an early delivery is planned, I am certain they would go for maternal steroids which is quite essential for a reasonable lung maturity.

Let me know if I could help further.

Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :1954

Answered : 4467 Questions

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Can Syphilis Be Passed On From The Surrogate Mother To The Fetus?

Brief Answer: A VDRL can be done Detailed Answer: Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic. I have gone carefully through your query and understand your concerns. It is a bit unusual that RPR would be positive even after treatment. It therefore has to be followed up by a quantitative nontreponemal test like VDRL. The CDC guidelines need to be followed: https://www.cyyy.yyy/yyy/yy2015/yyyyyyyy-yyyyyyyy.htm It is not the risk of passing the bacteria to the baby that concerns us. It is the ill effects that concern us. The very fact that regular fetal scans are fine, is reassuring and you need not worry further. Tests like chorionic villus sampling can be done but such tests have their own risks and better be avoided. In case an early delivery is planned, I am certain they would go for maternal steroids which is quite essential for a reasonable lung maturity. Let me know if I could help further. Regards