Surrogacy Georgia Tbilisi Ban

Surrogacy is defined as a type of assisted reproductive technique where a woman who is known as the surrogate or gestational carrier gets pregnant and agrees to carry the babies till birth for the intended parents. Surrogacy is the method that is employed by the intended parents when they have exhausted all the options that are available to them and they still are unable to bear children. After the birth of the baby, the surrogate then transfers the parental right to the intended parents who then assume responsibility for the baby. There are two types of surrogacy that are recognized globally, they include:

Traditional surrogacy 

This is a form of surrogacy where the surrogate uses her eggs to get pregnant. She gets pregnant with the sperm from the intended parents via artificial insemination. The process is straightforward and much simpler than the other forms of surrogacy. The surrogate then carries the baby to term, delivers, and gives the baby to the intended parents. This type of surrogacy, while being the only form of surrogacy that can be done in some countries, is not very popular. This is because the baby has a genetic or biological relationship with the surrogate since her egg was used. This relationship can be problematic in the instance that the surrogate decides after delivery not to give up the baby. She can have a legal claim on the baby because they have a genetic relationship.

Gestational surrogacy 

This form of surrogacy is the most popular form of surrogacy. In this type of surrogacy, the eggs and the sperm used for fertilization are from the intended parents or donors. The fertilization is done in vitro. The embryo is then transferred to the uterus of the surrogate who then carries the baby to term and delivers. This type of surrogacy, while being more expensive than and not as straightforward as traditional surrogacy is more preferred. This is because there is no genetic relationship between the surrogate and the intended parents, hence no legal claim.

The outlook of global commercial surrogacy has been impacted by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Prior to the war, Ukraine was Europe’s capital of surrogacy. They had good medical care, very loose regulations on surrogacy as well as an abundant supply of poor young women. This change has led to surrogacy agencies and parents looking for alternative countries for their surrogacy needs. Ukrainian surrogate are also finding their way to other countries like Georgia, Greece, and Cyprus in order to be impregnated and carry their baby to term. However, further disruption is expected since a conservative government in Georgia announced its intention to ban commercial surrogacy from Jan 1, 2024.

Surrogacy in Georgia

Previously, Georgia has been a legal destination for intended parents and surrogacy agents for international surrogates. Surrogacy was legalized in the country back in 1992, along with the legalization of eggs and sperm. Due to the demands for this, it attracted a lot of medical tourists and medical and health tourism. Medical travel health agencies or meditour agencies also took the opportunity to create packages and make the service easier for intended parents. Commercial surrogacy was the only form of surrogacy allowed in Georgia, and it was only available to heterosexual married couples as well. The country also had laws that favoured the intended parents as they barred claims on the baby by the surrogate after delivery. This, as well as other favourable laws, made the country a popular destination for international surrogacy when Ukraine became unavailable.

Changes to Georgia’s surrogacy laws

Due to the boom in the commercial surrogacy industry in the country because of the war in Ukraine, leading to a lot of abuse, the Georgian authorities proposed a ban on international surrogacy in the country. The decision was made to put a stop to a major part of the commercial surrogacy industry, halting the international side of it and limiting it to only her citizens. This decision would also have the added effect of reducing the amount of health tourism and the number of health tourists to the country. The decision was announced in 2023 by the Georgian Prime Minister Iraki Garibashvi. The reasons that were provided for the proposed ban include:

• Concerns about the laxity of the surrogacy laws in the country
• Fear that the surrogate babies would eventually end up with same-sex couples
• The increased risk of the promotion of child trafficking by the commercial surrogacy industry
• The concerns about the safety of both the surrogate mothers and the infants

In a separate announcement, the health minister for Georgia, Zurab Azarashvli, also listed reasons for the ban, choosing to focus more on the bad and unethical practices that had arisen due to the looseness of the law guiding surrogacy in Georgia. He stated that some of the vices that are rampant in the commercial surrogacy industry include:

• Organ trafficking
• Inability to track the locations and the destinations of the infants properly
• Organ trafficking

The minister further insisted that from 2024, not only will international medical tourists and intended parents be banned from accessing the surrogacy industry in Georgia, but they will also be restricted from using or accessing assisted reproductive techniques like in vitro fertilization. The minister also announced that the relevant bills to back the announcements of prohibitions would be sent to the Georgian parliament so that they could be passed into law. 

In the past, Georgia had considered ending the commercial surrogacy industry in the country and had introduced the first series of restrictions to that effect back in the year 2020. One of the restrictions was the exclusion of same-sex couples from accessing the surrogacy industry in the country. The other clause was that any heterosexual couple that was seeking surrogacy in the country also had to be legally married, or must have lived together for at least a year. But the last straw came with the persistent abuse of surrogacy, even with the restrictions, leading the country to take more permanent steps to curb the abuse.