Impoverished Ukrainian refugees in Georgia turn to surrogacy

As Ukrainian women flee to the nearby country of Georgia as refugees, they are increasingly turning to surrogacy — not out of altruism, but out of desperation.

Key Takeaways:

• Surrogacy was previously a booming business in Ukraine, though it slowed due to the war with Russia.

• Georgia has become a popular surrogacy hub for wealthy foreigners, with the demand quickly outpacing the supply.

• As Ukrainian refugees fled to Georgia, fertility clinics began recruiting them to serve as surrogates.

• Ukrainian surrogates say they have turned to the practice so they can provide for their families.

The Backstory:

Ukraine

Surrogacy still continues in Ukraine, but over the years, it has slowed due to the war with Russia. When it does take place, the buyers are typically wealthy and foreign, while the women serving as surrogates are living in poverty. Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in the world.

Ukrainian politicians previously attempted to ban foreign surrogacy, but it has yet to be outlawed. Ukraine and other impoverished countries have been sought-after fertility destinations because they are significantly less expensive than in countries like the United States.

Georgia

Similarly to Ukraine, Georgia's politicians have made efforts to end surrogacy, but it continues to be a thriving business. This is especially true as the war in Ukraine continues, and like Ukrainian women, Georgian women who choose to be surrogates are more likely to live in poverty, turning to surrogacy as a means to provide for their families.

Currently, Georgia allows both gestational (where the woman is biologically related to the child she is carrying) and traditional (where there is no biological relation) surrogacy. It also has a legal framework in place immediately stripping surrogates of parental rights, and recognizing the would-be parents right away.

Recent surveys have found that just five percent of people renting Georgian women as surrogates are Georgian themselves, meaning the overwhelming majority are foreigners. The number of surrogate births has likewise doubled, with most surrogate mothers being single mothers living in poverty. 

The Details:

Women's Agenda, an Australian media outlet, reported on the rise of Ukrainian refugees serving as surrogates in Georgia. Specifically, their investigative team found that as the Georgian surrogacy industry has grown, there are not enough local Georgian women willing or able to rent their wombs.

As a result, Georgian fertility clinics began recruiting foreign women to serve as surrogates from countries like Russia, Belarus, Thailand, the Philippines... and Ukraine.

One surrogate, Anna, told Women's Agenda she would never have left Ukraine if there hadn't been a war; Women's Agenda said this was the case for many of the women they had interviewed, who had lost their homes and their jobs in the war. And after being forced to leave Ukraine, many were still responsible for supporting family members still left behind.

“I didn’t come here to get rich. I came because I had no other way to keep my son safe and care for my displaced family," Anna said, adding, “Surrogacy in Georgia pays in nine months what I would earn in years."

Her desperation was so great that she was willing to sign a surrogacy contract even though it was written in a language she couldn't understand. Many of the women, according to Women's Agenda, live in apartments arranged for by the fertility clinics, and contractual obligations can mandate much of the surrogates' lifestyles, including the food they eat and their daily routines.

The Bottom Line:

The Ukrainian women are refugees in extremely difficult situations, whose desperation is being exploited for the benefit of wealthy foreigners willing to use these women's wombs to get the "products" they want: children.