Can a surrogate mother keep the baby? What the law says in Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia — and where the real risks are

1The short answer

No. In all three countries where we run programs, the law itself names the intended parents as the child’s parents and gives the surrogate no parental rights. She is not recorded as the mother on the birth certificate, and she cannot claim the child later. That is the main reason we work only in countries with an explicit surrogacy law.

2Why couples ask — and why the answer depends on the country

The fear usually comes from stories in other countries: places where surrogacy is unregulated, where the woman who gives birth is automatically the legal mother, or where the surrogate is also the genetic mother. In those systems a surrogate can, in law, decide to keep the child, and the intended parents depend on a court or an adoption.

Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia allow only gestational surrogacy: the embryo is created from the intended parents’ gametes or donor gametes, and the surrogate has no genetic link to the child. Each country then settles parentage by statute.

3Ukraine: the parents by law from birth

Under Article 123 of the Family Code of Ukraine, when an embryo conceived by a married couple is transferred to another woman, the spouses are the parents of the child. Article 139 adds that maternity cannot be contested in these cases. At least one of the intended parents must be genetically related to the child.

In practice, the intended parents are recorded on the Ukrainian birth certificate from the start. The documents for registration are prepared before the birth, so there is no adoption and no court hearing.

4Georgia: the surrogate has no right to be recognised as a parent

Article 143 of Georgia’s Law on Health Care states that when a child is born, the couple is deemed to be the parents, with all the rights and responsibilities this brings, and that the donor or surrogate mother has no right to be recognised as a parent. The intended parents are registered through the civil registry, usually within one to two weeks of the birth, and the surrogate’s name does not appear on the birth certificate.

5Armenia: no rights to the child and no right to refuse the handover

Armenia’s Law on Human Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights (2002, amended in 2016 and 2024) provides that the surrogate has no rights to the child and bears no responsibility for the child, and that she cannot refuse to hand the child over to the intended parents. The child is handed over after a DNA test confirms the genetic link to at least one intended parent, and a notarised surrogacy agreement is required.

6Where the real risks are

In these three countries the risk is not that the surrogate keeps the baby. The risks that do matter are different:

• Programs in countries without an explicit law, or traditional surrogacy where the surrogate is the genetic mother.
• An incomplete or unclear agreement — what happens with complications, a long hospital stay or a change in the law.
• Recognition at home — citizenship and, in some countries, a court step after you return.
• The surrogate’s wellbeing — a woman who is well selected, informed, supported and paid on time is the best protection for everyone, including your child.

7What protects both sides in our programs

Every surrogate we work with already has at least one healthy child of her own and goes through a medical examination, a psychological evaluation, a criminal background check and a social assessment. The surrogacy agreement is notarised before the embryo transfer, her compensation is paid on a schedule set in the agreement, and she is supported throughout the pregnancy by our surrogate program curator, Svitlana Burkovska, who has been a surrogate herself.

8What the surrogate keeps

Having no parental rights does not mean having no rights. Decisions about her own health during the pregnancy remain hers, her personal data is confidential, and she is entitled to the compensation and support set out in her agreement. Respecting that is part of a legitimate program — and part of why these programs work.

?Frequently asked questions

Sources: Family Code of Ukraine, Articles 123 and 139 (zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2947-14); Law of Georgia on Health Care, Article 143 (matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/29980); Law of the Republic of Armenia on Human Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights (arlis.am, docid=195987). This article is general information, not legal advice.