Georgia becomes Europe's surrogacy hub after Russia crackdown
Georgia has emerged as a European hub for surrogacy, attracting international clients seeking assisted reproduction services. According to industry participants cited by Deutsche Welle, demand has risen sharply since Russia tightened its surrogacy and foreign adoption laws and following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
One of the main challenges for Russian clients is the ban on using donated eggs. As a result, Russian fertility agencies increasingly arrange for donated embryos to be transported to Georgia, where local surrogate mothers carry the pregnancies.
The medical procedure begins with IVF embryo transfer in Georgia. After the transfer, the intended mother typically returns home and travels back to Georgia only around the 31st week of pregnancy to prepare for the birth.
Transporting a donated embryo to Georgia costs about €3,000, while the embryo transfer procedure costs another €1,750, according to Sofia T., owner of a surrogacy agency interviewed by Deutsche Welle. Clients must also cover flights, accommodation and living expenses for surrogate mothers. She said medication is the only significant cost that remains cheaper in Georgia than in Russia.
Fertility agencies in Tbilisi and Batumi charge an average of $50,000 to $60,000 for a comprehensive surrogacy package—roughly two to three times less than in many other countries. Surrogate mothers interviewed anonymously said they typically receive between $20,000 and $30,000, with additional bonuses sometimes paid for multiple births.
According to the latest available statistics, more than 3,000 surrogate mothers were registered in Georgia by the end of 2023. Between 2012 and the end of 2023, they gave birth to 5,393 children through surrogacy programmes. The number of babies born through surrogacy increased from about 300 in 2021 to 1,172 in 2023, Deutsche Welle reported.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
