Plenty of people dream about starting a family but have obstacles that prevent the usual route of a woman letting herself become pregnant and giving birth to a child. For example, some women had medical factors such as a heart condition that, should a pregnancy occur, would put them and the growing baby at risk. Others have surgical considerations, such as winning a battle against uterine cancer that resulted in the removal of the uterus and the ability to bear children.
For these couples, one alternative is surrogacy, where another woman, medically evaluated to be suitable, volunteers to become pregnant on behalf of the hopeful family. When she safely gives birth nine months later, that newborn is then united with the intended parents, and life together as a new family begins. Surrogacy is increasingly becoming a popular alternative. For many, the choice for this method also brings a choice to leave their country of residence and have the surrogacy take place abroad.
If you’re thinking of surrogacy for yourselves, here are some of the considerations you should keep in mind.
Acceptable Facilities
When going abroad, one of the primary concerns couples should have is that the facilities that will be used should be up to a standard that is in line with acceptable modern health and safety practices. For example, choosing surrogacy in a third-world nation can be more cost-effective, but it’s also possible that the hospital or other medical facilities that will eventually be used may be underequipped or have staff with insufficient training.
This can result in complications that might easily be anticipated, detected, and addressed in more modern facilities with experienced staff but may go unattended in these countries until serious medical consequences arise. It’s always a good idea to ensure that any country you’re looking at for surrogacy abroad has medical facilities at a certain minimum level of health and safety standards, with staff with expertise in surrogacy medical concerns.
Travel Schedule
Another major factor to consider is planning out a travel schedule; there should be, at minimum, two trips to the country where surrogacy takes place, although more than that is ideal. A couple should always fly out to personally meet with the surrogate mother, as she plays a crucial role in the process, and it’s important to establish a face-to-face relationship with someone so critical.
The other trip should, of course, be when the baby arrives and it is time to receive the newborn and then return to the country of residence to begin life as a new family. Financing should be set aside for the trips and the accommodation required during the journey.
Legality
Depending on the country of residence being returned to, coming home with a newborn in arms does not guarantee automatic issuance of citizenship to that baby. Sometimes extra steps must be taken to ensure that a baby is issued the same citizenship as the parents upon return.
Failure to anticipate this can sometimes result in a baby being declared “stateless” and unable to enter the country, meaning the intended parents must remain outside with the child or abandon the child while they return home.
Why Georgia?
Georgia, based in Eastern Europe, is a popular destination for hopeful parents looking for surrogacy options. One reason for this is the many facilities available in the capital city of Tbilisi, such as:
GGRC Clinic
The GGRC clinic can help with all phases of the surrogacy process, including finding a surrogate mother candidate. This is a good destination for start-to-finish surrogacy processes.
Zhordania IVF Center
The Zhordania center can help with more demanding surrogacy requirements, such as wanting to undertake the In Vitro Fertilization—or IVF—procedure. This is where an egg and sperm are fertilized in the lab and then implanted in the surrogate mother.
Chachava Medical Center
Chachava Medical Center has opened its doors to patients for over 100 years, since 1875. Today, it welcomes international patients with various needs, including obstetric and gynecological-related medical needs.
Inova IVF Center
Inova IVF center is a comparatively new facility that only opened its doors in 2015. Like the Zhordania IVF center, this also offers the IVF process for hopeful parents that would like a “true” genetic descendent that is a 50% mix of the hopeful mother and father.
They also offer preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis or PGD as one of the more comprehensive services for hopeful families that want the IVF procedure but have a family medical history with congenital disorders that are passed down to children. Through PGD, fertilized eggs can be analyzed for the presence of hereditary diseases such as cystic fibrosis, and only those eggs without these conditions will be selected for implantation.
Plan Carefully
The path of surrogacy already requires much planning, but with the addition of choosing surrogacy abroad, now considerations must be accounted for. However, with proper research, and careful planning, the result can be a cost-effective surrogacy success and the start of a new family.