It’s common for many couples to decide that wanting to spend their lives together also means a new phase, like starting a family. However, for some couples, the traditional route of the woman allowing herself to become pregnant isn’t an easy or achievable path. Some couples have major obstacles, such as deciding late in life to have a child when the demands of pregnancy would put a woman at risk. Other women are no longer medically able to bear children themselves, as life-saving surgery like a hysterectomy removes a cancerous uterus, saving their lives, but making pregnancy impossible.
One alternative to traditional pregnancy is surrogacy. Rather than adopting a child, surrogacy involves another woman who has been medically evaluated as suitable agreeing to become pregnant on behalf of the couple. Once the pregnancy is confirmed, she carries the baby to term, and when the child is born, it is united with the intended parents. While surrogacy is a technique that has been practiced for centuries and is understood throughout the world and widely practiced, some couples prefer to undertake surrogacy in a country aside from their own, such as in the city of Tbilisi, in Georgia, a nation in Eastern Europe.
What’s In Georgia?
Georgia is a nation in Southeastern Europe, bordered by Armenia and the Black Sea. It was also one of the countries that lay on the historical “Silk Road,” the traditional land route for trading caravans carrying goods between Europe and Asia for centuries. Georgia has its own language, Georgian, but it also has a variety of dialects as well as three different alphabets for communication.
Due to its strategic geographic position for travel and trade, Georgia flourished as a gateway between two regions and developed a dynamic, cosmopolitan atmosphere that continues to this day. Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is home to both great artifacts and locations of historical Europe and plays host to the modern-day with modern first-world facilities in every area, from entertainment to, most importantly, medicine and medical facilities. A progressive constitution respects and recognizes the rights of parents to familial legal custody of a surrogate newborn, making this a surrogacy-friendly country.
The Necessity To Travel
Surrogacy is an ancient technique and is even documented in ancient religious texts such as the Bible. As a result, it is well understood and practiced in many parts of the world, so why would anyone consider going the surrogate route in a country other than their own? There are several reasons for this, though one of the most obvious is legality. While surrogacy is well understood, that doesn’t mean every country permits it. Even within the European Union itself, major nations such as France and Germany have declared any surrogacy illegal.
There may also be a preference for a type of surrogacy not permitted in the country of residence. For example, in Canada, surrogacy is legal. However, only “altruistic surrogacy” is allowed. This type of surrogacy works on a voluntary basis, allowing a surrogate mother only to accept money for living expenses and medical treatment. In all other ways, she volunteers her time, resources, and body out of generosity and a willingness to help a couple. This means a far smaller available pool of candidates versus “compensated surrogacy,” where a surrogate mother receives significant financial recognition for her contribution to the process.
Georgia Expertise
The Stork Service clinic provides many advantages to couples or even surrogacy agencies trying to facilitate surrogate alternatives for couples thinking of going abroad. The strategic location of Georgia means that it is centrally located for many around the world to travel easily. At the same time, the European standards of living and technology are truly world-class. Museums, restaurants, and clubs align with the best the rest of the world offers, while the medical facilities provide every type of treatment and support a patient might expect from an American facility.
This confidence in treatments and technologies is combined with two other factors that work in Stork Service’s favor. The first is that being in Europe, the country is more cost-effective than similar surrogacy processes in the United States, with lower costs for both the compensated surrogacy itself and medical treatment costs, despite the modern medical standards.
The second factor is legality. Georgia’s constitution automatically awards legal familial custody of a newborn to the intended parents, provided all Georgian laws and documentation are observed. When this is combined with a legal team that can make all appropriate preparations for a family to return to the country of residence, this ensures a newborn will start a new life as a citizen of the intended country of residence instead of being declared stateless and perhaps not even being allowed to enter the country due to insufficient legal processing.
With Stork Service, working with other agencies worldwide or directly with couples provides benefits in terms of care, cost, and final results.