Georgia’s surrogacy boom leaves couples with few safeguards
Agencies in Tbilisi and Batumi charge a third of rates elsewhere, yet Georgian law ignores their role and leaves contracts to settle health and pay.
By
Katharina Brenner
Georgia’s surrogacy market has grown fast since 2022, but couples who sign with its agencies often discover legal and contractual gaps only after committing, DW reported on 11 October 2026.
In brief
- Georgia drew international surrogacy agencies after Russia barred foreign clients in 2022.
- Agency fees in Tbilisi or Batumi average around €45,000 to €55,000.
- Surrogates told DW they earn between €18,000 and €28,000 on average.
- Georgian law covers surrogates, parents and clinics, but not agencies.
The problems described are less about surprise invoices than about what nobody guarantees: the health information on a surrogate, where she will spend her pregnancy, when she gets paid, and who answers for the intermediary that arranged it all.
How a Caucasus country became a surrogacy hub
The shift followed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since 2022, foreign clients have been barred from signing surrogacy contracts in Russia, and many international agencies that broker deals between surrogates and intended parents relocated to Georgia. Women now travel there from many countries to carry pregnancies for others.
For couples in Germany, the pull abroad has a domestic cause. Surrogacy is illegal there, and parents of a child born to a surrogate have to go to a German court to have their parenthood recognised.
The registration and birth totals come from Georgia’s Public Service Development Agency. Supply has widened too: estimates differ, but roughly 19 clinics across the country offer the service.
What parents pay and what surrogates receive
Price is the main draw. Agencies in the two largest hubs charge about a third of what their counterparts in other countries ask.
| Who | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Intended parents (agency fee, Tbilisi or Batumi) | €45,000 to €55,000 | Average service cost |
| Surrogate mothers (reported pay) | €18,000 to €28,000 | Premiums added, for twins for instance |
Payment is not always prompt. Anastasia, a Russian surrogate working in Georgia, described her own programme as smooth but said some women who delivered there waited a long time for their money after the birth. “Other women who gave birth in Georgia told me they had difficulties,” she told DW.
A Hamburg couple’s search ends without a contract
Olga and Daniel, a couple from Hamburg whose names were changed, spent months looking for an agency. Not every one could answer clearly about the health of the women on offer, they said. They chose a Ukrainian surrogate, and the agency arranged a Zoom call with her lasting half an hour, which Olga considered too little for a final decision.
Then came a discovery. The couple say they had been told the surrogate would live in a rented Tbilisi flat throughout the pregnancy, only to learn she would go back to Ukraine for a few months after embryo implantation.
They also felt rushed. “We were constantly being made to understand that we should decide as quickly as possible,” Olga said. The agency kept pointing out that it had covered the cost of bringing the surrogate to Georgia, an expense the contract never mentioned. The couple have put surrogacy aside for now.
Where Georgian rules stop
Human rights lawyer Nino Bogveradze told DW the legislation governs relations among surrogates, intended parents and clinics, while leaving agencies outside its scope. The consequences fall into three areas:
- Pregnancy, medical care and payment are mostly settled by private contract rather than national law.
- The state imposes no minimum standards on social guarantees or contract terms.
- Once an embryo is implanted, a surrogate cannot keep the child, quit the programme or terminate the pregnancy.
Olga Doletskaya of the University of Leeds sees a gap between agencies’ self-image and their conduct. “Agencies often speak of their special mission to help people have the child they’ve been dreaming of,” she told DW, adding her view that financial interest is their main driver.
Featured image. Source: Pexels. Credit: Amina Filkins. License: Pexels License.
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