Republic Of Georgia Changes Laws on Surrogacy: No Changes in Surrogacy Laws in Ukraine

In the past there have been concerns of fictitious marriages in order to participate in a surrogacy program in Georgia. Like Ukraine, Georgia only permits traditional married couples to have children there through surrogacy.

Based on the amendments, a couple of foreign or mixed nationality who decides to have a child through surrogacy, must be able to prove they have lived together for one year. The couple does not need to be married this entire time according to sources.

While the reasons for this is to prevent child trafficking this will also prevent single individuals and same sex couples from circumventing the law.

In her words, the change does not concern in vitro fertilization, but the process of surrogacy. She noted that the changes are aimed at preventing the transnational crime of infant trafficking and claims that the changes should prevent fictitious couples from having a child in Georgia for criminal purposes.

We demand from September 1 that a foreign couple or a mixed couple who apply to the notary must have lived together for at least a year so that we have a couple who really want to have and raise a child. They have to have a child through surrogacy in order to raise that child, not to take it from Georgia and then violate his/her rights.

This does not affect IVF.