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A post shared by Korina Sanchez-Roxas (@korina) on Feb 22, 2019 at 12:44am PST

MANILA – Many Filipinos were surprised after “Rated K” host Korina Sanchez announced on Thursday that she and her husband, senatorial candidate Mar Roxas, recently welcomed twins.

This made Sanchez a first-time mother at 54 years old. Roxas, 61, has a 25-year-old son, Paolo, with former beauty queen Maricar Zaldarriaga.

According to the couple's friend, DZMM host Pat Daza, Sanchez and Roxas opted for gestational surrogacy.

Daza made the statement in her DZMM radio program “Pasada Sais Trenta” with Peter Musngi on Friday.

But what exactly is it?

Surrogate.com describes gestational surrogacy as “the most common type of surrogacy today.”

Here, “the embryo is created via in vitro fertilization using the eggs and the sperm of the intended parents and donors, and is then transferred to the surrogate.”

In other words, the twins are biologically related to both Sanchez and Roxas, even if the former TV Patrol co-anchor did not undergo pregnancy. The surrogate only served as a carrier or “host.”

Celebrity doctors Vicki Belo and Hayden Kho similarly welcomed their child, Scarlet Snow, via gestational surrogacy.

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Gestational surrogacy, according to Surrogate.com, is an option for “people who have struggled with infertility, hopeful single parents, same-sex couples, people who don’t want a genetic link between the surrogate and their child, and anyone who is unable to safely carry a pregnancy to term.”

From there, “the surrogate will carry the baby as if it were any other pregnancy, and the intended parents will welcome their child and have full legal custody when he or she is born.”

Surrogate.com said gestational surrogacy is the “least legally complicated form of surrogacy because the baby is not related to the gestational carrier.”

The website estimated the cost of gestational surrogacy to range from $75,000 to $150,000, or from P3.9 million to P7.8 million ($1=P52).

This includes the surrogate mother’s living expenses and compensation, medical expenses, lawyer’s fees, and agency fees, among others.