Nowadays, it’s common for couples with childbearing challenges to look at alternatives besides traditional pregnancy and childbirth. Gone are the times when couples with childbirth challenges could only accept a childless state or look into adoption. Now, thanks to surrogacy, it’s still possible for couples to have a newborn baby of their own, or, if they’re willing to invest in it, even have a child that is a direct genetic descendant, thanks to in vitro fertilization or IVF.
However, surrogacy, aside from being an alternative to adoption, is itself full of alternatives and choices that have to be made. One of the biggest choices a couple considering surrogacy may need to make is whether to consider undertaking surrogate motherhood in another country. Surrogacy abroad does bring with it additional considerations and expenses, including, of course, travel.
One of the destinations for surrogacy for couples worldwide is the capital city of Tbilisi, in the country of Georgia, located at the gateway between Europe and Asia. But what makes this locale beneficial to people who are considering surrogacy abroad?
Legal Peace Of Mind
Georgia is one of the few countries in the world that has modernized its constitution to explicitly recognize and protect the custody rights of couples that have children through surrogacy. In the 1990s, Georgia revised its constitution so that gestational surrogacy included legal protections for hopeful couples.
This required that legal contracts be in place, signed by all the involved parties, including the surrogate mother and the hopeful couple. However, once all these legal requirements were locked down, this guaranteed that once the baby was born, legal custody and parenthood belonged to the hopeful couple, not the biological mother. This effectively addressed the legal ambiguities that sometimes plagued other countries, such as the United States, when disputes arose about the guardianship of a newborn and the written laws had no clear-cut resolution, requiring lengthy and uncertain court battles.
Cost-Efficiency
The country of Georgia is located in Eastern Europe and is one of the “gateway countries” to Asia. Its unique location makes it a hub between two parts of the continent, and it is not currently a member of the European Union, meaning that it retains its own currency, the “Lari.” While it accepts Euros as payment, that is not the national currency.
As a result, this means that visitors to Georgia often enjoy lower expenses compared to similar levels of service and medical attention in the United States for dollars, the United Kingdom for Pounds, or even members of the European Union pegged to the Euro. Currency differences typically incur more savings for couples conscious about their spending.
Modern Medical Facilities
The United States may be the first country people think of when considering modern-day medical techniques and facilities, but it is hardly the only country. In North America, Canada has equivalent levels, and in Europe, many countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, are also at similar levels of medical technology and quality care.
Georgia is one more nation to add to this list. The country attracts world-class medical talent to the capital city of Tbilisi, meaning that the currency difference between countries doesn’t compromise the quality of medical care. The same is true for the facilities themselves, which have modern equipment and treatment practices, ensuring that surrogate mothers and their unborn babies get the very best prenatal care.
Experienced Surrogacy Process
Because of its surrogacy-friendly policies and modern facilities and caregiving, Tbilisi in Georgia is a city with extensive experience catering to foreign visitors seeking to take advantage of everything the country offers. Surrogacy agencies and clinics in Tbilisi are well-versed in communicating with visitors in their preferred language and helping to facilitate couples with whatever type of surrogacy they are interested in.
Because Georgia has legalized “compensated surrogacies,” the surrogate mother receives financial recognition for her role in the process; this gives hopeful couples some of the widest choices available for medically suitable surrogacy candidates. The process is well-established, and with an experienced agency, coordinating the search for a surrogate mother and establishing the partnership can be accomplished professionally and legally, ensuring that everything is set for a future family to be legally recognized.
This also means that perhaps just as importantly, working with the right agency or clinic makes for a smoother overall surrogacy experience. Different couples will have different needs, so while some couples will find it sufficient to work with a surrogate mother in a traditional gestational surrogacy, others may require more elaborate care for the in vitro fertilization process, preimplantation diagnostic screening for congenital conditions, and even the delicate transport of cryogenically stored egg or sperm samples to ensure they are still viable for fertilization.
When couples choose Tbilisi, all this and the experienced management of the legal aspects of a newborn’s citizenship upon return to the intended country of residence can be handled by qualified professional clinics and agencies.