Surrogacy in Georgia (the country)

Who surrogacy in Georgia suits, and who it does not

Georgia suits married or long-term heterosexual couples who have a medical reason they cannot carry a pregnancy and who want a lower-cost programme with a clear legal route to parentage. It does not suit same-sex couples, single men or single women, or anyone who needs certainty that the rules will stay the same for the next two years.

Georgia has allowed surrogacy since 1997. For a heterosexual couple, its main advantage is simple: intended parents are named on the Georgian birth certificate from the start. No court order is needed, and the surrogate is not named. That makes the paperwork in Georgia simpler than in many other countries. The process at home, for passports and citizenship, can still be long.

Georgia may suit you if:

• you are a woman and a man, married or living together long-term, with documented medical infertility (for example, no uterus, repeated implantation failure or a serious health risk in pregnancy);
• you need a budget below most North American options;
• you can travel to Tbilisi several times and stay for some weeks after the birth.

Georgia is not suitable if:

• you are a same-sex couple, a single man or a single woman. Georgian law does not allow it for you, and you should compare altruistic surrogacy in Canada or the options in our guide for gay couples;
• you cannot accept the risk that Parliament tightens the rules while your journey is under way;
• you live in a country or state that criminalises compensated surrogacy abroad (see surrogacy laws by country).

What Georgian law says (verified October 2026)

Surrogacy in Georgia rests on Article 143 of the 1997 Law on Health Care. It allows an embryo to be transferred to a surrogate with the couple's written consent. It also says the couple are the parents and the surrogate has no right to be recognized as the mother. Birth-registration rules then name the intended parents on the certificate.

The statute

Article 143(1)(b) of the Law of Georgia on Health Care (opens in new tab) allows IVF in which the embryo is transferred to "another woman (a 'surrogate mother')" when the woman of the couple has no uterus. The couple's written consent is required. Article 143(2) says that when the child is born, the couple are the parents with all rights and responsibilities. It also says the donor or surrogate has no right to be recognized as the child's parent. We read the consolidated Georgian text on Matsne, the official legal database, on 5 October 2026. It includes amendments up to a law dated 10 June 2026, and Article 143 has not changed.

The wording is narrow. It refers only to a woman who has no uterus. In practice, clinics have long accepted other serious medical reasons a woman cannot carry a pregnancy. We could not find an official interpretation of that practice. Ask your clinic to set out your medical indication in writing.

Birth registration

Article 30 of the Law on Civil Status Acts (opens in new tab) says births after IVF are registered under that law, the Health Care law and an order of the Minister of Justice. That order is Order No. 18 of 31 January 2012 (opens in new tab). Under its Article 19, the registry office needs:

• a clinic document confirming the embryo transfer, and
• a notarized contract signed before the IVF between the surrogate and the intended parents (and any donors).

The surrogate and donors may not be recorded as parents. If no contract is produced, no parents are recorded at all. Article 2 of the order defines a "couple" as "a woman and a man" who are named as parents under that contract. This is why getting the contract right before the transfer matters so much.

Who is eligible

The law speaks of a "couple", and the registration rules define a couple as a woman and a man. Georgia's 2024 Law on Family Values and Protection of Minors (opens in new tab) adds that a same-sex union registered abroad has no legal force in Georgia (Art. 4). Same-sex couples and single people therefore cannot use surrogacy in Georgia. Clinics and legal practitioners usually require marriage or at least one year of living together. That rule is widely reported, but we could not find it in the primary texts listed above. Treat it as a requirement your clinic will apply.

The proposed ban on foreigners: what happened

Step-by-step journey and timeline

Most heterosexual couples should expect 15–24 months from first consultation to returning home. Matching and the first embryo transfer often happen within a few months. After that, the timeline depends on how many transfers are needed, the pregnancy itself, and how long your home country takes to issue the baby's passport.

1. Check eligibility and home-country law. Confirm you qualify in Georgia and that surrogacy abroad is lawful where you live. Get independent legal advice in both countries.
2. Choose a clinic and, if needed, an agency. Check the clinic's licence and laboratory standards (see below). Read our guide to choosing an agency.
3. Medical work-up and IVF. Tests, egg retrieval (or egg donation) and embryo creation. Many couples make embryos at home and ship them, which reduces time in Tbilisi.
4. Surrogate screening and matching. Medical and psychological screening of the surrogate. You meet her and agree the terms.
5. Notarized contract before transfer. Sign the contract required by Order No. 18 before the IVF or embryo transfer. Each party should have their own lawyer and a qualified interpreter.
6. Embryo transfer and pregnancy. The clinic issues the transfer certificate. You receive regular updates and the surrogate gets prenatal care.
7. Birth and Georgian birth certificate. You register the birth at the Public Service Hall using the contract, transfer certificate and hospital birth record. Both of you are named as parents.
8. Apostille, passport and exit. You get the certificate apostilled and translated, then apply to your own embassy for citizenship and travel documents (see below).

Georgia surrogacy cost breakdown

Published 2026 programme prices for Georgia run from about $41,000 to $75,000 before travel. A nonprofit consumer group quotes $45,000–$80,000. With flights, a stay of several weeks after the birth and home-country legal work, a realistic all-in budget is $50,000–$90,000. These are estimates, not quotes.

What drives the range: whether you need donor eggs, the number of transfers, single or "guarantee" pricing, twins, premature birth, and your nationality, which sets how long you stay after the birth. Basis: published programme prices (one agency's price list (opens in new tab)) and a nonprofit's published range (opens in new tab), both accessed 5 October 2026 and used only as a cost basis. The line items are our editorial estimates. For context across countries, see our international surrogacy cost comparison.

Bringing your baby home from Georgia

Every family leaves Georgia with the same base documents: a Georgian birth certificate naming both intended parents, an apostille (Georgia joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 2007), and certified translations. After that, your own country decides citizenship and the baby's passport, and this step usually sets how long you stay in Tbilisi.

The birth certificate is issued by the civil registry (Public Service Hall). Georgia is a party to the Apostille Convention (opens in new tab), so the certificate can be apostilled for use in other member countries. A Georgian birth certificate does not give the baby Georgian citizenship. The baby needs a passport from your country. Summary by nationality (full detail in our citizenship, passport and parentage guide):

• United States: apply to the US Embassy in Tbilisi for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad and a passport. Under State Department policy, citizenship generally requires a biological link to a US citizen parent, or the child being born to a US citizen parent married to the genetic or gestational parent. A DNA test may be requested. See the State Department's ART guidance (opens in new tab).
• United Kingdom: the Georgian certificate is not enough under UK law. The surrogate is the legal mother in the UK until a court makes a parental order (opens in new tab). You should apply within six months of birth, at least one of you must be genetically related to the baby, and you must be domiciled in the UK. The baby travels on a British passport if eligible, or otherwise on a UK visa. Read GOV.UK's Surrogacy overseas (opens in new tab) guidance and expect a longer stay.
• Canada: citizenship by descent through a Canadian legal parent, then a passport. Bill C-3, in force since 15 December 2025, lets parents born abroad pass on citizenship if they spent 1,095 days in Canada before the birth. Check IRCC's current rules (opens in new tab) before you start.
• Australia: citizenship by descent through Home Affairs; DNA testing is not legally required but may be offered if other evidence is insufficient. Residents of NSW, Queensland and the ACT should note that compensated surrogacy overseas can be a criminal offence under their state or territory law. Get advice before you begin.

Risks and how to reduce them

The main risks in Georgia are a change in the law, contract or agency failure, and a weaker framework for surrogates' welfare than for intended parents' rights. Use a licensed clinic, sign a notarized contract reviewed by independent lawyers, keep payments in escrow, and plan with your home-country lawyer for delays.

• Legal change. The 2023 bill shows how quickly a ban can be proposed. Ask in writing what happens to embryos and pregnancies already under way if the law changes, and keep a back-up destination in mind (for most foreign couples that means Canada, because the Republic of Cyprus and Greece now require residence).
• Agency or contract problems. Media reports and researchers have described unpaid fees owed to surrogates and fraud allegations against at least one agency. Pay in stages through escrow or the clinic directly. Avoid agencies that will not name the clinic, the lawyer or the escrow arrangements.
• Surrogate welfare. Recent research (opens in new tab) notes that Georgian law says little about surrogates' housing, labour conditions or care after the birth, and that many surrogates are migrants. Ask how the surrogate is screened and insured, whether she has her own lawyer, what her compensation is and when it is paid, and what postnatal and psychological support she receives.
• Medical risks. A systematic review (opens in new tab) found that outcomes for children born through surrogacy are broadly similar to those after other IVF, and that most surrogates report positive experiences. Pregnancy still carries real risks for the surrogate, such as hypertensive disorders, bleeding and caesarean birth. Multiple pregnancy raises the risks for her and the babies. Single embryo transfer is the safer default. No clinic can guarantee a live birth.
• Exit delays. DNA tests and court or passport processes at home can take weeks or months. Budget for them.

Clinic and doctor standards to look for

Choose a clinic licensed by Georgia's health regulator. Its lead reproductive specialist should be named and board-certified, and it should report outcomes by age group and transfer type. It should support single embryo transfer and have independent surrogate screening, and it should give you a written fee schedule. Then check each claim yourself.

• A medical licence you can verify, and the names and qualifications of the doctors and embryologist.
• Success rates reported per embryo transfer and by patient age, not just "pregnancy rates".
• Clear policies on embryo storage, shipping embryos in and out, and what happens to embryos if the law changes.
• Maternity care at a hospital with neonatal intensive care.

Read our doctor vetting standards.

Alternatives to Georgia

If Georgia's eligibility rules or political risk rule it out, Canada is the main alternative: altruistic, open to single people and same-sex couples, but slower and pricier. Cyprus and Greece are closer to home but now require the intended mother to live there, so they rarely suit foreign couples.

• Surrogacy in Cyprus, and our direct comparison Georgia vs Cyprus
• Surrogacy in Greece
• Surrogacy in Canada

To compare every country side by side, see the destination comparison hub, our country-by-country legal guide, and the step-by-step process guide. New to the idea of going abroad? Start with our overview of surrogacy abroad.