ROPA stands for Reception of Oocytes from Partner; also known as shared motherhood.

When a couple consisting of two women wishes to have a child, they have several options depending on each case and medical indication, including:

• Artificial insemination with donor sperm (IAD)
• IVF with donor sperm
• IVF with donor eggs and donor sperm
• Embryo adoption
• Reception of Oocytes from Partner (ROPA)

Thus, the ROPA method is one of the alternatives that female couples have to become mothers, with the peculiarity that both actively participate in the In Vitro Fertilization process and gestation. One provides her oocytes, and once inseminated with bank sperm, the resulting embryos are transferred to the uterus of her partner. In this way, the genetic material of the woman who donates her oocytes is inherited, and the recipient participates by carrying the embryo during the 9 months of pregnancy.

The process is the same as for IVF; one woman will undergo ovarian hormonal stimulation to produce more oocytes, and her partner will undergo hormonal treatment with estrogens to achieve good endometrial development to receive the embryo that will be transferred. This treatment has been legally recognized in Spain since 2007, provided that the couple has formalized their marriage.

Therefore, it is an option to consider when evaluating the most appropriate treatment to achieve the desire to have a child in female couples. However, it will be the medical professional who decides if this technique is the most suitable for each case, taking into account the clinical history and the couple's wishes.

As a result, children born through this treatment will be legally recognized as having two mothers, as they can be registered in the civil registry as having double motherhood.